Geo-spatially constrained private neighborhood social network

ABSTRACT

A method and system an online neighborhood social network designed to create private websites to facilitate communication among neighbors and build stronger neighborhoods. The private websites are embodied in a website having a domain name of nextdoor.com. In one embodiment, a method verifies that a user lives at a residence associated with a residential address claimed by the user of an online neighborhood social network. The method restricts access to a particular neighborhood to the user and to neighboring users living within the neighborhood boundary of the residence. A social network page of the user is created once verified and access privileges are determined. A message is distributed to neighboring users that are verified to live within a neighborhood boundary of the residence. The method may designate the user as a lead user with an additional privilege based on a participation level of the user in the online community.

CLAIMS OF PRIORITY

This patent application is a Continuation patent application to:

(1) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/653,194 titled ‘LODGINGAND REAL PROPERTY IN A GEO-SPATIAL MAPPING ENVIRONMENT’ filed on Jan.12, 2007, and the provisional and utility cases to which this casedepends.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

This disclosure relates generally to the technical fields ofcommunications and, in one example embodiment, to a method, apparatus,and system of a geo-spatially constrained private neighborhood socialnetwork.

BACKGROUND

A neighborhood may be a geographically localized community in a largercity, town, and/or suburb. Residents of the neighborhood may refer toeach other as neighbors, although this term may also be used across muchlarger distances in rural areas. In theory, the neighborhood may besmall enough that the neighbors may be able to know each other bywalking and/or driving a short distance (e.g., 5 miles) around theirplace of residence and/or their place of work. However, in practice, theneighbors may not know one another very well (e.g., because of busyschedules, fenced communities, lack of effort, a lack of time, etc.).

The neighborhood may be given a designated status through a neighborhoodassociation, a neighborhood watch group, a political group, a homeownersassociation, and/or a tenant association. These groups may help inmatters such as lawn care and fence height, and they may provide suchservices as block parties, neighborhood parks, children activities,special interest groups, and/or community security. However, gettingmessages out to residents of the neighborhood may require expensivedirect mail, and/or time consuming door to door meetings with residentsof the neighborhood.

A neighborhood watch (e.g., a crime watch, a block watch, a neighborhoodcrime watch, etc.) may be an organization of active residents devoted tocrime and/or vandalism prevention in the neighborhood. Members of theneighborhood watch may stay alert of unusual activity, behaviors, and/orcrime in the neighborhood. However, most residents may not be activeparticipants of the neighborhood association (e.g., because of a lack oftime), and may be unaware of safety, security, and/or prevention issuesin their immediate area.

For example, in many American communities, while a few active residentsknow a lot of their neighbors, there are far more residents who do noteven know what professions, interests, and reputations are of theirimmediate next-door neighbors. As a result, friendships among neighborsdon't form as often, neighbors have more difficult time asking otherneighbors for help, safety in the neighborhood suffers, quality of lifeis impacted, and a sense of community is diminishing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitationin the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like referencesindicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a system view of a global neighborhood environmentcommunicating with the neighborhood(s) through a network, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a user interface view of for-sale profile of a real propertyin a geo-spatial environment, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is tree diagram of top level of a website for buying and listingthe real property in the geo-spatial environment, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a tree diagram showing online selling process and biddingprocess of the real property in the geo-spatial environment, accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a user interface view of a buyer/tenant tools, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a user interface view of a lister tools, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a system view of a global neighborhood environmentcommunicating with the neighborhood(s) through a network, anadvertiser(s), a global map data and an occupant data, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a social community module of FIG. 6,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a search module of FIG. 6, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a wiki module of FIG. 6, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a commerce module of FIG. 6, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a map module of FIG. 6, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 12 is a table view of user address details, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 13 is a social community view of a social community module,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a profile view of a profile module, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 15 is a contribute view of a neighborhood network module, accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic system view of a data processing system inwhich any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be performed,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 17A is a user interface view of mapping user profile of thegeographical location, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 17B is a user interface view of mapping of the wiki profile,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 18A is a user interface view of mapping of a wiki profile of thecommercial user, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 18B is a user interface view of mapping of customizable businessprofile of the commercial user, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a user interface view of a group view associated withparticular geographical location, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a user interface view of claim view, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 21 is a user interface view of a building builder, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 22 is a systematic view of communication of wiki data, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a systematic view of a network view, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a database, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 25 is an exemplary graphical user interface view for datacollection, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 26 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of imagecollection, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 27 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of an invitation,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart of inviting the invitee(s) by the registereduser, notifying the registered user upon the acceptance of theinvitation by the invitee(s) and, processing and storing the input dataassociated with the user in the database, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of adding the neighbor to the queue, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart of communicating brief profiles of the registeredusers, processing a hyperlink selection from the verified registereduser and calculating and ensuring the Nmax degree of separation of theregistered users away from verified registered users, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 31 is an N degree separation view, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a user interface view showing a map, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 33A is a process flow of searching a map based community andneighborhood contribution, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 33B is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33A showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 33C is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33B showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 33D is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33C showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 33E is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33D showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 34A is a process flow of associating a user with a real property ina geo-spatial environment and marking the status of the real propertyclaimed by the user, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 34B is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 34A showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 34C is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 34B showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 34D is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 34C showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

SUMMARY

Disclosed are a method and system an online neighborhood social networkdesigned to create private websites to facilitate communication amongneighbors and build stronger neighborhoods. The private websites areembodied in a website having a domain name of nextdoor.com. For example,a method that verifies that a user lives at a residence associated witha residential address claimed by the user of an online neighborhoodsocial network is claimed. The method restricts access to a particularneighborhood to the user and to neighboring users living within theneighborhood boundary of the residence. A social network page of theuser is created once verified and access privileges are determined. Amessage is distributed to neighboring users that are verified to livewithin a neighborhood boundary of the residence. The method maydesignate the user as a lead user with an additional privilege based ona participation level of the user in the online community.

Furthermore, in one aspect, a system of a global neighborhoodenvironment includes a computer server of the global neighborhoodenvironment (1) to verify that a user lives at a residence associatedwith a geographic location claimed by the user of the globalneighborhood environment using a processor and a memory, (2) to create asocial network page of the user once verified, (3) to enable the user toconstrain a communication to neighboring users within a geospatialvicinity of the residence of the user based on a neighborhood boundary,and (4) to distribute a message in a distance away from the residence ofthe user based on the neighborhood boundary (5) to provide an additionalprivilege as a lead user in the online community of the globalneighborhood environment based on a participation level of the user inthe online community or an activity level of the user associated withencouraging neighbors to participate in the online community and (6) toautomatically determine a set of access privileges in the onlinecommunity associated with each user of the online community byconstraining access in private web sites of the online community toneighboring users based on each residence associated with eachgeographic location claimed by each user of the global neighborhoodenvironment. The global neighborhood environment formed through thecomputer server is named nextdoor.com in this aspect.

The computer server may permit the user to set a privacy settingassociated with a profile data of the user such that certain informationis marked as private and is therefore masked from being visible toneighboring users of the online community in the global neighborhoodenvironment. The computer server may permit the user to provide arecommendation or an event suggestion to neighboring users based on theresidence associated with the geographic location claimed by the user ofthe global neighborhood environment. The computer server may permit theuser of the global neighborhood environment to mark certain informationcommunicated directly to a particular neighboring user as private (e.g.,such that privately shared information is shared only with theparticular neighboring user and is designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online community).

The computer server may filter information to only display messages froma particular neighborhood associated with each verified user. Thecomputer server may permit private posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within theneighborhood. The computer server may utilize a postcard method throughwhich the computer server generates a physical postcard that is postalmailed to verify addresses of requesting users in a particularneighborhood of the social network. The global neighborhood environmentis designed to create private websites to facilitate communication amongneighbors and build stronger neighborhoods.

In another aspect, a computer server (1) to verify that a user lives ata residence associated with a geographic location claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network using a processor and a memory,(2) to create a social network page of the user once verified in theonline neighborhood social network, (3) to enable the user to constraincommunications to neighboring users in a geospatial vicinity of theresidence of the user based on a neighborhood boundary of the onlineneighborhood social network, (4) wherein the user is provided anadditional privilege as a lead user in the online neighborhood socialnetwork based on a participation level of the user in the onlineneighborhood social network and/or an activity level of the userassociated with encouraging neighbors to participate in the onlineneighborhood social network, (5) to automatically determine a set ofaccess privileges in the online neighborhood social network associatedwith the neighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood social networkby constraining access in a private website in the online neighborhoodsocial network to the user and to neighboring users of the user based oneach residence associated with each geographic location claimed by eachuser of the online neighborhood social network verified to live withinthe neighborhood boundary. The online neighborhood social network has adomain name of nextdoor.com.

The computer server may permit the user to set a privacy settingassociated with a profile data such that certain information is markedas private in the online neighborhood social network and is thereforemasked from being visible to neighboring users of the onlineneighborhood social network. The computer server may permit the user toprovide a recommendation to neighboring users based on the residenceassociated with the geographic location claimed by the user of theonline neighborhood social network. The computer server may permit theuser of the online neighborhood social network to mark certaininformation communicated directly to a particular neighboring user asprivate, such that privately shared information is shared only with theparticular neighboring user and is designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network.

The computer server may filter information to only display messages froma particular neighborhood associated with each verified user. Thecomputer server may permit private posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within aparticular neighborhood boundary associated with the particularneighborhood. The computer server may utilize a postcard method throughwhich the computer server generates a physical postcard that is postalmailed to verify addresses of neighboring users living within theneighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood social network. Theonline neighborhood social network may be designed to create privatewebsites to facilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods.

In yet another aspect, a method includes verifying that a user lives ata residence associated with a residential address claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network using a processor and a memory,creating a social network page of the user once verified in the onlineneighborhood social network, distributing a message from the user toneighboring users that are verified to live within a neighborhoodboundary of the residence, designating the user as a lead user having anadditional privilege in a private website of the online neighborhoodsocial network confined by the neighborhood boundary based on at leastone of a participation level of the user in the online neighborhoodsocial network and an activity level of the user associated withencouraging neighboring users to participate in the online neighborhoodsocial network, automatically determining a set of access privileges inthe private website of the online neighborhood social network associatedwith the user, and restricting access to a particular neighborhood inthe private website of the online neighborhood social network to theuser and to neighboring users living within the neighborhood boundary ofthe residence.

The neighboring users are determined based on each residence associatedwith each geographic location claimed by each neighboring user of theonline neighborhood social network that is within the neighborhoodboundary. In this yet another aspect, the online neighborhood socialnetwork has a domain name of nextdoor.com. The method may includepermitting the user to set a privacy setting associated with a profiledata such that certain information is marked as private in the onlineneighborhood social network and is therefore masked from being visibleto neighboring users of the online neighborhood social network. Themethod may include distributing a recommendation of the user toneighboring users based on the residence associated with the geographiclocation claimed by the user of the online neighborhood social network.In addition, the method may publish an event listing posted by the userto neighboring users based on the residence associated with thegeographic location claimed by the user of the online neighborhoodsocial network.

The method may permit the user of the online neighborhood social networkto mark certain information communicated to a particular neighboringuser as private (e.g., may be designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network). The methodmay filter information to only display messages from a particularneighborhood associated with each verified user. The method may permitprivate posts only in the particular neighborhood to verified usershaving verified addresses within the neighborhood boundary.

The method may utilize a postcard method through which the computerserver generates a physical postcard that is postal mailed to verifyaddresses of neighboring users living within the neighborhood boundaryof the online neighborhood social network. The online neighborhoodsocial network may be designed to create private websites to facilitatecommunication among neighbors and build stronger neighborhoods. Themethods and systems disclosed herein may be implemented in any means forachieving various aspects, and may be executed in a form of amachine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, whenexecuted by a machine, cause the machine to perform any of theoperations disclosed herein. Other features will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method, apparatus and system of a geo-spatially constrained privateneighborhood social network is disclosed. In the following description,for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forthin order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments.It will be evident, however to one skilled in the art that the variousembodiments may be practiced without these specific details.

People in suburbia and urban cities now may not even know who theirneighbors are. Communities have become more insular. There may be a fewactive people in each neighborhood who know about their neighborhood andare willing to share what they know with others. They should be able toshare this information with others through the Internet. Many peoplewant to know who their neighbors are and express themselves and theirfamilies through the internet. People want to also know aboutrecommendations and what kind of civic and cultural things are in theneighborhood. What is contemplated includes: A social network for peoplewho want to get to know their neighbors and/or neighborhoods.Particularly, one in which a set of maps of neighborhoods (e.g., such asthose on Zillow.com or provided through Google® or Microsoft®) are usedas a basis on which a user can identify themselves with a particularaddress. This address may be verified through one or more of the moduleson FIG. 6. Particularly, this address may be the current address of theuser is living, a previous address where the user used to live, etc.

The address may be verified through a credit check of the user, or acopy of the user's drivers license. Once the user is approved in aparticular home/location, the user can leave their comments about theirhome. They can mark their home information proprietary, so that no oneelse can contribute to their info without their permission. They canhave separate private and public sections, in which the private sectionis shared with only verified addresses of neighbors, and the publicsection is shared with anybody viewing their profile. The user can thencreate separate social networking pages for homes, churches, locations,etc. surrounding his verified address. As such, the user can expresshim/herself through their profile, and contribute information about whatthey're neighborhood is like and who lives there. Only verifiedindividuals or entities might be able to view information in thatneighborhood.

The more information the user contributes, the higher his or her statuswill be in the neighborhood through a marker (e.g., a number of stars),or through additional services offered to the neighbor, such as theability to search a profiles of neighbors in a larger distance rangefrom a verified address of the user. For example, initially, the usermay only be able to search profiles within 1 mile on their principal,current home after being verified as living in there. When they create aprofiles for themselves and/or contribute profiles of other people, theymay widen their net of private profiles they may be allowed to search(e.g., because they become a trusted party in the neighborhood byoffering civic information). Neighbors can leave feedback for eachother, and arrange private block parties, etc. through their privateprofile. All these features may possible through one or more of theembodiments and/or modules illustrated in FIGS. 1-28. Through theirpublic profile, neighbors can know if there is a doctor living down thestreet, or an attorney around the corner. The FIGS. 6-34 illustratevarious embodiments that may be realized. While a description is givenhere, a self-evident description can be derived for the software andvarious methods, software, and hardware directly from the attachedFigures.

A neighborhood expression and user contribution system is disclosed. Inone aspect, the technology allows users to see the value of millions ofhomes across the United States and/or the world, not just those that theuser themselves own or live in, because they can share information abouttheir neighbors. People living in apartments or condos can use theapartment/condo modeler wizard (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 6) tocreate models (e.g. 2 or 3d) of their building and share informationabout their apartment/home and of their neighbors with others. Thetechnology has an integrated targeted advertising system for enablingadvertisers to make money through the social community module 100 bydelivering targeted and non-targeted advertisements.

Aside from giving user generated content of information of homes, thesystem may also provide value estimates of homes it may also offersseveral unique features including value changes of each home in a giventime frame (e.g. 1, 5, or 10 years) and aerial views of homes as well asthe price of the surrounding homes in the area. It may also providesbasic data of a given home such as square footage and the number ofbedrooms and bathrooms. Users may can also obtain current estimates ofhomes if there was a significant change made such as recently modeledkitchen.

In the example systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 6-34, neighborsmay get to know each other and their surrounding businesses more easilythrough the Internet. The user interface view of the social communitymodule may include a searchable map interface and/or a social networkingpage on the right when one clicks a particular home/location. The mapinterface may/may not include information about prices of a home, orinformation about the number of bedrooms of a home, etc. In essence,certain critical input information may be divided as follows:

Residential location: (1) name of the persons/family living in thatresidence (2) Their profession if any 3) Their educational background ifany (4) Their recreational interests (5) About their family descriptionbox (6) Anything else people want to post about that person includingtheir interests, hobbies, etc. (7) An ability for users to leaveendorsements.

Business location or civic location (e.g., park, govt. building, church,etc.): (1) name of the business/location (2) email of the manager of thebusiness/location (3) phone number of the business/location if known (4)anything else people want to say about the business (good or bad), forexample, contributable through a wiki.

These two will be the primary types. Various features differentiateexample embodiments of the social community module from other socialnetworks. These differentiators include (1) interface driven by address(2) maps that can be viewed, zoomed in on, tied to a parcel #, etc. (3)Anyone can populate anyone's social network page. (4) Anybody can postin one of the boxes. They can post anonymously or publicly (5) Ifsomeone wants to override information that already has been established,they will need to have an identity (e.g., user name), to overridepublished posting information.

However, according to one embodiment, if an owner of an entity locationwishes to mark their location private, and uneditable by the publicwithout their permission, they will need to pay (e.g., a monthly fixedfee) through the social community module. Alternatively, the owner ofthe entity location may not need to pay to mark the location as privateand uneditable by the public without the owner's permission. Exampleembodiments of the social community module may feature info aboutbusinesses. They may also feature info about people that live in thehomes, and may/may not display information on prices, number ofbedrooms, etc.

The social community module (e.g., as described in FIG. 6) may be asearch engine (e.g., Google®, Yahoo®, etc.) that uses maps (e.g.,satellite map views) instead of text displays to show information, userprofiles, reviews, promotions, ads, directions, events, etc. relevant touser searches.

The example systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 6-34 may facilitatea social network membership that spreads virally by users inviting theirfriends. For example, every person that registers has their own profile,but registration may not be required to contribute content. However,registration may be required to “own” content on your own home, and haveoverride permission to delete things that you don't like about yourselflisted about you by others. In one embodiment, the social communitymodule may need to confirm the user's identity and address (e.g., usingdigital signature tools, drivers license verification, etc.), and/or theuser may need to pay a monthly fixed fee (e.g., through a credit card)to control their identity.

For example, they can get a rebate, and not have to pay the monthly feefor a particular month, if they invite at least 15 people that month ANDcontribute information about at least 10 of their neighbors, friends,civic, or business locations in their neighborhood. People can post picsof their family, their business, their home, etc. on their profile oncethey ‘own’ their home and register. In another embodiment, endorsementsfor neighbors by others will be published automatically. People cansearch for other people by descriptors (e.g., name, profession, distanceaway from me, etc.)

Profiles of users may be created and/or generated on the fly, e.g., whenone clicks on a home.

People may be able to visually see directions to their neighborhoodbusinesses, rather than reading directions through text in a firstphase. After time, directions (e.g., routes) can be offered as well.Users can leave their opinions on businesses, but the social communitymodule also enables users to leave opinions on neighbors, occupants orany entity having a profile on the map display. The social communitymodule may not attempt to restrict freedom of speech by the users, butmay voluntarily delete slanderous, libelous information on the requestof an owner manually at any time.

In one embodiment, the methods and systems illustrated in FIGS. 6-34enable people to search for things they want e.g. nearby pizzas etc.(e.g., by distance away). Advertisers can ‘own’ their listing by placinga display ad on nextdoor.com. Instead of click-through revenues whensomeone leaves the site, revenues will be realized when the link isclicked and someone views a preview html on the right of the visual map.Targeted advertisements may also be placed when someone searches aparticular street, name, city, etc.

In another example embodiment, the social community module may enableusers of the social network to populate profiles for apartments,buildings, condos, etc. People can create floors, layout, etc. of theirbuilding, and add social network pages on the fly when they click on alocation that has multiple residents, tenants, or lessees.

A user interface associated with the social community module 100 may beclean, simple, and uncluttered (e.g., Simple message of “get to knowyour neighbors”). For example, the map interface shows neighbors.Methods and systems associated with the features described may focus onuser experience, e.g., ensuring a compelling message to invite friendsand/or others to join. A seed phase for implementation of the methodsand systems illustrated in FIGS. 6-34 may be identified for building amembership associated with the social community module.

For example, a user having extensive networks in a certain area (e.g., acity) may seed those communities as well. The social network mayencourage user expression, user content creation, ease of use on site toget maximum users/distribution as quickly as possible. In anotherembodiment, the social community module may ensure that infrastructureassociated with operation of the social community module (e.g., servers)are able to handle load (e.g., data traffic) and keep up with expectedgrowth.

For example, the user interface view illustrated in the various figuresshows an example embodiment of the social community module of FIG. 6.The user interface view may include a publicly editable profile wallsection allowing public postings that owners of the profile can edit.For example, any user may be able to post on an empty profile wall, buta user must claim the location to own the profile (e.g., may minimizebarriers to users posting comments on profile walls).

Names featured on the profile wall may be links to the user profiles onthe map (e.g., giving an immediate sense for the location of admirers(or detractors) relative to user location). In one embodiment, an action(e.g., mouse-over) on a comment would highlight the comment user's houseon the map and names linking to user profiles. The user interface viewmay also utilize the mapping interface to link comments to locations.

For example, the various embodiments illustrate a comment announcing agarage sale, that is tied to a mappable location on the mappinginterface. (e.g., allows people to browse references directly frompeople's profiles). In the various figures, an example display of themapping interface is illustrated. In this example display, houses areshown in green, a church is shown in white, the red house shows theselected location and/or the profile owner's house, question marksindicate locations without profile owners, blue buildings are commerciallocations, and the pink building represents an apartment complex.

Houses with stars indicate people associated with (e.g., “friends”) ofthe current user. In one embodiment, a user action (e.g., mouse-over) ona commercial property displayed in the mapping interface may pull up astar (e.g., “***) rating based on user reviews, and/or a link to theprofile for the property. A mouse-over action on the apartment complexmay pull up a building schematic for the complex with floor plans, onwhich the user can see friends/profiles for various floors or rooms.Question marks indicated in the display may prompt users to own thatprofile or post comments on the wall for that space. A user action onany house displayed in the mapping interface may pull up a profile link,summary info such as status, profession, interests, etc. associated withthe profile owner, a link to add the person as a friend, and/or a linkto send a message to the user (e.g., the profile owner).

In another embodiment, a default profile view shown is that of thecurrent user (e.g., logged in), and if the user clicks on any otherprofile, it may show their profile in that space instead (with few textchanges to indicate different person). The events in your area view ofthe profile display in may have a default radius for notification ofevents (e.g., by street, by block, by neighborhood, county, etc.) Eventsare associated with user profiles and may link to locations displayed onthe mapping interfaces. The hot picks section may be an ad/promotionalzone, with default settings for radius of alerts also configurable.

For example, the “Find a Friend” section may permit users to search byname, address, interests, status, profession, favorite movies/music/foodetc. Users are also able to search within a given radius of theirlocation. In one embodiment, the user interface view may include a linkfor the user to invite other people to join the network (e.g., mayencourage users who see a question-mark on a house or a location on themapping interface that corresponds to a real location associated withsomeone they know to contact that person and encourage them to join andown that profile through the social community module).

Some of the reasons we believe these embodiments are unique include:

Search engine that provides a visual map (e.g., rather than text)display of information relevant to user queries.

Users can search on the map for other people having certainprofessional, educational, personal, extracurricular, cultural,political and/or family etc. profiles or interests, within any locationrange.

Users can search for information on the map, that is accessible directlythrough profile displays. For example, the user may search forinformation about a certain subject and be directed to a profile ofanother user having information about the subject. Alternatively, theuser may view the search subject itself as a visible item (e.g., ifapplicable to the search query) having a profile on the map display,along with additional information associated with the item (e.g.,contributed by other users).

Allows users to search, browse and view information posted by otherusers about an entity location such as a home, a business property, acondo, an apartment complex, etc. directly on a map display

Allows users to browse, form and join groups and communities based onlocation, preferences, interests, friend requests, etc.

Users can send messages to other people through their profiles withinthe map display

Users can find friends, business associates, vendors, romantic partners,etc. on the map within any location range (e.g., in their neighborhood,street, subdivision, etc.) by browsing the map display or searching forpeople with certain profile characteristics and/or similar interests.

Users can view, browse and post comments/information/reviews aboutentity locations and/or people associated with those locations (e.g.,occupants of a house, families, apartment residents, businesses,non-governmental entities, etc.), even for locations that do not have aprofile owner. For example, all entity locations visible on the mapdisplay may link to a profiles on which any user can post comments. Toown the profile and edit the information posted about an entity locationor the occupant(s), the occupant(s) would have to join the networkassociated with the social community module and become the owner of theprofile. The profile owner would then become visible in the map display(e.g., entity locations without profile owners may only be visible asquestions marks on the map, having blank profiles but public commentsections).

Users can share their comments and opinions about locations, preferencesand/or interests on their profiles that are visible and searchable onthe map display

Automatically notifies users of events and promotions in an area (e.g.,scope of area can be selected by the user), and highlights venues anduser profiles on the map.

Users can post reviews about entity locations (e.g., businesses) suchthat ratings for entity locations are visible on the map. Other userscan trace the location of the users that posted the comments on the map.

Users who post comments on other profiles can be traced directly on themap through their comments. Alternatively, users can choose to submitanonymous postings or comments on other user/entity profiles, and/or maychoose not to be traceable on the map through their comments.

For entity locations having more than one residency unit (e.g.,apartment complexes), people can create and post on profiles for anyroom/floor of the location (e.g., by entering information on a schematicview of the location that is visible on the map).

Users can visually determine routes/directions/orientation to locationsthat they can browse within the map display. Additionally, users cangenerate written driving, walking or public transit directions betweenpoints of interest (e.g., from the user's house to a friend's house)within the map display.

Users can communicate (e.g., through live chat) directly with otherusers in the area based on an association determined through theirprofiles

Business entity locations can generate targeted ads and promotionswithin locations on the map display (e.g., virtual billboards).

The social community module can realize revenue based on adclickthroughs by users, without the users being directed away from theinterface. For example, when a user clicks on any targeted ad/promotiondisplayed on the map, the profile of the entity associated with thead/promotion may be generated alongside the map display.

Neighborhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences) is ageographically localized community located within a larger city orsuburb. The residents of a given neighborhood are called neighbors (orneighbors), although this term may also be used across much largerdistances in rural areas.

Traditionally, a neighborhood is small enough that the neighbors are allable to know each other. However in practice, neighbors may not know oneanother very well at all. Villages aren't divided into neighborhoods,because they are already small enough that the villagers can all knoweach other.

The system however may work in any country and any geography of theworld. In Canada and the United States, neighborhoods are often givenofficial or semi-official status through neighborhood associations,neighborhood watches, or block watches. These may regulate such mattersas lawn care and fence height, and they may provide such services asblock parties, neighborhood parks, and community security. In some otherplaces the equivalent organization is the parish, though a parish mayhave several neighborhoods within it depending on the area.

In localities where neighborhoods do not have an official status,questions can arise as to where one neighborhood begins and anotherends, such as in the city of Philadelphia, Pa. Many cities may usedistricts and wards as official divisions of the city, rather thantraditional neighborhood boundaries.

In the mainland of the People's Republic of China, the term is generallyused for the urban administrative unit usually found immediately belowthe district level, although an intermediate, sub-district level existsin some cities. They are also called streets (administrative terminologymay vary from city to city). Neighborhoods encompass 2,000 to 10,000families. Within neighborhoods, families are grouped into smallerresidential units or quarters of 100 to 600 families and supervised by aresidents' committee; these are subdivided into residents' small groupsof fifteen to forty families. In most urban areas of China,neighborhood, community, residential community, residential unit,residential quarter have the same meaning.

The system and methods may be distributed through neighborhoodassociations. A neighborhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences)is a geographically localized community located within a larger city orsuburb. The residents of a given neighborhood are called neighbors (orneighbors), although this term may also be used across much largerdistances in rural areas.

Traditionally, a neighborhood is small enough that the neighbors are allable to know each other. However in practice, neighbors may not know oneanother very well at all. Villages aren't divided into neighborhoods,because they are already small enough that the villagers can all knoweach other. Each of the technologies and concepts disclosed herein maybe embodied in software and/or hardware through one or more of themodules/embodiments discussed in FIGS. 6-34.

A block party is a large public celebration in which many members of asingle neighborhood congregate to observe a positive event of someimportance. Many times, there will be celebration in the form of playingmusic and dance. Block parties gained popularity in the United Statesduring the 1970s. Block Parties were often held outdoors and power forthe DJ's sound system was taken illegally from street lights. This wasfamously referenced in the song “South Bronx” by KRS-One with the line:

“Power from a street light made the place dark. But yo, they didn'tcare, they turned it out.” It is also interesting to note that manyinner city block parties were actually held illegally, as they might bedescribed as loitering. However, police turned a blind eye to them,reasoning that if everyone from the neighborhood was gathered in oneplace there was less chance of crime being committed elsewhere.

In the suburbs, block parties are commonly held on holidays such asFourth of July or Labor Day. Sometimes the occasion may be a theme sucha “Welcome to the Neighborhood” for a new family or a recent popularmovie. Often block parties involve barbecuing, lawn games such as SimonSays and group dancing such as the Electric Slide, the Macarena or linedancing.

In other usage, a block party has come to mean any informal publiccelebration. For example, a block party can be conducted via televisioneven though there is no real block in the observance. The same is truefor the Internet. The block party is closely related to the beach party.The British equivalent is the street party.

The systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 6-34 may have software toemulate a block party or a neighborhood watch. A neighborhood watch(also called a crime watch or neighborhood crime watch) is a citizens'organization devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within aneighborhood. It is not a vigilante organization, since members areexpected not to directly intervene in possible criminal activity.Instead, neighborhood watch members are to stay alert to unusualactivity and contact the authorities. It builds on the concept of a townwatch from Colonial America.

The current American system of neighborhood watches began developing inthe late 1960s as a response to the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese inQueens, N.Y. People became outraged that three dozen witnesses didnothing to save Genovese or to apprehend her killer Some locals formedgroups to watch over their neighborhoods and to look out for anysuspicious activity in their areas. Shortly thereafter, the NationalSheriffs' Association began a concerted effort in 1972 to revitalize the“watch group” effort nationwide.

A neighborhood watch (also called a crime watch or neighborhood crimewatch) is a citizens' organization devoted to crime and vandalismprevention within a neighborhood. It is not a vigilante organization,since members are expected not to directly intervene in possiblecriminal activity. Instead, neighborhood watch members are to stay alertto unusual activity and contact the authorities. It builds on theconcept of a town watch from Colonial America.

The current American system of neighborhood watches began developing inthe late 1960s as a response to the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese inQueens, N.Y. People became outraged that three dozen witnesses didnothing to save Genovese or to apprehend her killer. Some locals formedgroups to watch over their neighborhoods and to look out for anysuspicious activity in their areas. Shortly thereafter, the NationalSheriffs' Association began a concerted effort in 1972 to revitalize the“watch group” effort nationwide.

The various methods, systems, and apparatuses disclosed herein andillustrated and described using the attached FIGS. 6-34 can be appliedto creating online community organizations of neighborhoods of any form.During human growth and maturation, people encounter sets of otherindividuals and experiences. Infants encounter first, their immediatefamily, then extended family, and then local community (such as schooland work). They thus develop individual and group identity throughassociations that connect them to life-long community experiences.

As people grow, they learn about and form perceptions of socialstructures. During this progression, they form personal and culturalvalues, a world view and attitudes toward the larger society. Gaining anunderstanding of group dynamics and how to “fit in” is part ofsocialization. Individuals develop interpersonal relationships and beginto make choices about whom to associate with and under whatcircumstances.

During adolescence and adulthood, the individual tends to develop a moresophisticated identity, often taking on a role as a leader or followerin groups. If associated individuals develop the intent to give ofthemselves, and commit to the collective well-being of the group, theybegin to acquire a sense of community.

Socialization: The process of learning to adopt the behavior patterns ofthe community is called socialization. The most fertile time ofsocialization is usually the early stages of life, during whichindividuals develop the skills and knowledge and learn the rolesnecessary to function within their culture and social environment. Forsome psychologists, especially those in the psychodynamic tradition, themost important period of socialization is between the ages of 1 and 10.But socialization also includes adults moving into a significantlydifferent environment, where they must learn a new set of behaviors.

Socialization is influenced primarily by the family, through whichchildren first learn community norms. Other important influences includeschool, peer groups, mass media, the workplace and government. Thedegree to which the norms of a particular society or community areadopted determines one's willingness to engage with others. The norms oftolerance, reciprocity and trust are important “habits of the heart,” asde Tocqueville put it, in an individual's involvement in community.

Continuity of the connections between leaders, between leaders andfollowers, and among followers is vital to the strength of a community.Members individually hold the collective personality of the whole. Withsustained connections and continued conversations, participants incommunities develop emotional bonds, intellectual pathways, enhancedlinguistic abilities, and even a higher capacity for critical thinkingand problem-solving. It could be argued that successive and sustainedcontact with other people might help to remove some of the tension ofisolation, due to alienation, thus opening creative avenues that wouldhave otherwise remained impassable.

Conversely, sustained involvement in tight communities may tend toincrease tension in some people. However, in many cases, it is easyenough to distance oneself from the “hive” temporarily to ease thisstress. Psychological maturity and effective communication skills arethought to be a function of this ability. In nearly every context,individual and collective behaviors are required to find a balancebetween inclusion and exclusion; for the individual, a matter of choice;for the group, a matter of charter. The sum of the creative energy(often referred to as “synergy”) and the strength of the mechanisms thatmaintain this balance is manifest as an observable and resilient senseof community.

McMillan and Chavis (1986) identify four elements of “sense ofcommunity”: 1) membership, 2) influence, 3) integration and fulfillmentof needs, and 4) shared emotional connection. They give the followingexample of the interplay between these factors: Someone puts anannouncement on the dormitory bulletin board about the formation of anintramural dormitory basketball team. People attend the organizationalmeeting as strangers out of their individual needs (integration andfulfillment of needs). The team is bound by place of residence(membership boundaries are set) and spends time together in practice(the contact hypothesis). They play a game and win (successful sharedvalent event). While playing, members exert energy on behalf of the team(personal investment in the group). As the team continues to win, teammembers become recognized and congratulated (gaining honor and statusfor being members). Someone suggests that they all buy matching shirtsand shoes (common symbols) and they do so (influence).

A Sense of Community Index (SCI) has been developed by Chavis and hiscolleagues (1986). Although originally designed to assess sense ofcommunity in neighborhoods, the index has been adapted for use inschools, the workplace and a variety of types of communities.

Communitarianism as a group of related but distinct philosophies (orideologies) began in the late 20th century, opposing classicalliberalism, capitalism and socialism while advocating phenomena such ascivil society. Not necessarily hostile to social liberalism,communitarianism rather has a different emphasis, shifting the focus ofinterest toward communities and societies and away from the individual.The question of priority, whether for the individual or community, mustbe determined in dealing with pressing ethical questions about a varietyof social issues, such as health care, abortion, multiculturalism, andhate speech.

Effective communication practices in group and organizational settingsare important to the formation and maintenance of communities. How ideasand values are communicated within communities are important to theinduction of new members, the formulation of agendas, the selection ofleaders and many other aspects. Organizational communication is thestudy of how people communicate within an organizational context and theinfluences and interactions within organizational structures. Groupmembers depend on the flow of communication to establish their ownidentity within these structures and learn to function in the groupsetting. Although organizational communication, as a field of study, isusually geared toward companies and business groups, these may also beseen as communities. The principles can also be applied to other typesof communities.

If the sense of community exists, both freedom and security exist aswell. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people becomefree enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense ofconnectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has becomeknown as social capital.

Azadi Tower is a town square in modern Iran. Social capital is definedby Robert D. Putnam as “the collective value of all social networks (whopeople know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to dothings for each other (norms of reciprocity).” Social capital in actioncan be seen in groups of varying formality, including neighbors keepingan eye on each others' homes. However, as Putnam notes in Bowling Alone:The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), social capitalhas been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, familydinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45percent.

Western cultures are thus said to be losing the spirit of community thatonce were found in institutions including churches and communitycenters. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg states in The Great Good Place thatpeople need three places: 1) The home, 2) the workplace, and, 3) thecommunity hangout or gathering place.

With this philosophy in mind, many grassroots efforts such as TheProject for Public Spaces are being started to create this “Third Place”in communities. They are taking form in independent bookstores,coffeehouses, local pubs and through many innovative means to create thesocial capital needed to foster the sense and spirit of community.

Community development is often formally conducted by universities orgovernment agencies to improve the social well-being of local, regionaland, sometimes, national communities. Less formal efforts, calledcommunity building or community organizing, seek to empower individualsand groups of people by providing them with the skills they need toeffect change in their own communities. These skills often assist inbuilding political power through the formation of large social groupsworking for a common agenda. Community development practitioners mustunderstand both how to work with individuals and how to affectcommunities' positions within the context of larger social institutions.

Formal programs conducted by universities are often used to build aknowledge base to drive curricula in sociology and community studies.The General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center atthe University of Chicago and the Saguaro Seminar at the John F. KennedySchool of Government at Harvard University are examples of nationalcommunity development in the United States. In The United Kingdom,Oxford University has led in providing extensive research in the fieldthrough its Community Development Journal, used worldwide bysociologists and community development practitioners.

At the intersection between community development and community buildingare a number of programs and organizations with community developmenttools. One example of this is the program of the Asset Based CommunityDevelopment Institute of Northwestern University. The institute makesavailable downloadable tools to assess community assets and makeconnections between non-profit groups and other organizations that canhelp in community building. The Institute focuses on helping communitiesdevelop by “mobilizing neighborhood assets”—building from the inside outrather than the outside in.

Community building and organizing: M. Scott Peck is of the view that thealmost accidental sense of community which exists at times of crisis,for example in New York City after the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, can beconsciously built. Peck believes that the process of “consciouscommunity building” is a process of building a shared story, andconsensual decision making, built upon respect for all individuals andinclusivity of difference. He is of the belief that this process goesthrough four stages:

Pseudo-community: Where participants are “nice with each other”,playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favorable sidesof their personalities. Chaos: When people move beyond theinauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their“shadow” selves. This stage places great demands upon the facilitatorfor greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that“organizations are not communities”, and this pressure should beresisted.

Emptying: This stage moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convertof the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledgingtheir own woundedness and brokenness, common to us all as human beings.Out of this emptying comes

Authentic community: the process of deep respect and true listening forthe needs of the other people in this community. This stage Peckbelieves can only be described as “glory” and reflects a deep yearningin every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows.

More recently Scott Peck has remarked that building a sense of communityis easy. It is maintaining this sense of community that is difficult inthe modern world. The Ithaca Hour is an example of community-basedcurrency. Community building can use a wide variety of practices,ranging from simple events such as potlucks and small book clubs tolarger-scale efforts such as mass festivals and construction projectsthat involve local participants rather than outside contractors. Somecommunities have developed their own “Local Exchange Trading Systems”(LETS) and local currencies, such as the Ithaca Hours system, toencourage economic growth and an enhanced sense of community.

Community building that is geared toward activism is usually termed“community organizing.” In these cases, organized community groups seekaccountability from elected officials and increased directrepresentation within decision-making bodies. Where good-faithnegotiations fail, these constituency-led organizations seek to pressurethe decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing,boycotting, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics. The ARISEDetroit! coalition and the Toronto Public Space Committee are examplesof activist networks committed to shielding local communities fromgovernment and corporate domination and inordinate influence.

Community organizing is sometimes focused on more than just resolvingspecific issues. Organizing often means building a widely accessiblepower structure, often with the end goal of distributing power equallythroughout the community. Community organizers generally seek to buildgroups that are open and democratic in governance. Such groupsfacilitate and encourage consensus decision-making with a focus on thegeneral health of the community rather than a specific interest group.

The three basic types of community organizing are grassroots organizing,coalition building, and faith-based community organizing (also called“institution-based community organizing,” “broad-based communityorganizing” or “congregation-based community organizing”).

Community service is usually performed in connection with a nonprofitorganization, but it may also be undertaken under the auspices ofgovernment, one or more businesses, or by individuals. It is typicallyunpaid and voluntary. However, it can be part of alternative sentencingapproaches in a justice system and it can be required by educationalinstitutions.

The most common usage of the word “community” indicates a large groupliving in close proximity. Examples of local community include: Amunicipality is an administrative local area generally composed of aclearly defined territory and commonly referring to a town or village.Although large cities are also municipalities, they are often thought ofas a collection of communities, due to their diversity.

A neighborhood is a geographically localized community, often within alarger city or suburb. A planned community is one that was designed fromscratch and grew up more or less following the plan. Several of theworld's capital cities are planned cities, notably Washington, D.C., inthe United States, Canberra in Australia, and Brasilia in Brazil. It wasalso common during the European colonization of the Americas to buildaccording to a plan either on fresh ground or on the ruins of earlierAmerindian cities. Identity: In some contexts, “community” indicates agroup of people with a common identity other than location. Membersoften interact regularly. Common examples in everyday usage include: A“professional community” is a group of people with the same or relatedoccupations. Some of those members may join a professional society,making a more defined and formalized group.

These are also sometimes known as communities of practice. A virtualcommunity is a group of people primarily or initially communicating orinteracting with each other by means of information technologies,typically over the Internet, rather than in person. These may be eithercommunities of interest, practice or communion. (See below.) Researchinterest is evolving in the motivations for contributing to onlinecommunities.

Some communities share both location and other attributes. Memberschoose to live near each other because of one or more common interests.A retirement community is designated and at least usually designed forretirees and seniors—often restricted to those over a certain age, suchas 55. It differs from a retirement home, which is a single building orsmall complex, by having a number of autonomous households.

An intentional community is a deliberate residential community with amuch higher degree of social interaction than other communities. Themembers of an intentional community typically hold a common social,political or spiritual vision and share responsibilities and resources.Intentional communities include Amish villages, ashrams, cohousing,communes, ecovillages, housing cooperatives, kibbutzim, and land trusts.

Special nature of human community Music in Central Park, a public space.Definitions of community as “organisms inhabiting a common environmentand interacting with one another,” while scientifically accurate, do notconvey the richness, diversity and complexity of human communities.Their classification, likewise is almost never precise. Untidy as it maybe, community is vital for humans. M. Scott Peck expresses this in thefollowing way: “There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can beno community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, andultimately no life, without community.” This conveys some of thedistinctiveness of human community.

Particularly, disclosed are a method and system an online neighborhoodsocial network designed to create private websites to facilitatecommunication among neighbors and build stronger neighborhoods. Theprivate websites are embodied in a website having a domain name ofnextdoor.com. For example, a method that verifies that a user lives at aresidence associated with a residential address claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network is claimed. The method restrictsaccess to a particular neighborhood to the user and to neighboring usersliving within the neighborhood boundary of the residence. A socialnetwork page of the user is created once verified and access privilegesare determined. A message is distributed to neighboring users that areverified to live within a neighborhood boundary of the residence. Themethod may designate the user as a lead user with an additionalprivilege based on a participation level of the user in the onlinecommunity.

Furthermore, in one aspect, a system of a global neighborhoodenvironment includes a computer server of the global neighborhoodenvironment (1) to verify that a user lives at a residence associatedwith a geographic location claimed by the user of the globalneighborhood environment using a processor and a memory, (2) to create asocial network page of the user once verified, (3) to enable the user toconstrain a communication to neighboring users within a geospatialvicinity of the residence of the user based on a neighborhood boundary,and (4) to distribute a message in a distance away from the residence ofthe user based on the neighborhood boundary (5) to provide an additionalprivilege as a lead user in the online community of the globalneighborhood environment based on a participation level of the user inthe online community or an activity level of the user associated withencouraging neighbors to participate in the online community and (6) toautomatically determine a set of access privileges in the onlinecommunity associated with each user of the online community byconstraining access in private web sites of the online community toneighboring users based on each residence associated with eachgeographic location claimed by each user of the global neighborhoodenvironment. The global neighborhood environment formed through thecomputer server is named nextdoor.com in this aspect.

The computer server may permit the user to set a privacy settingassociated with a profile data of the user such that certain informationis marked as private and is therefore masked from being visible toneighboring users of the online community in the global neighborhoodenvironment. The computer server may permit the user to provide arecommendation or an event suggestion to neighboring users based on theresidence associated with the geographic location claimed by the user ofthe global neighborhood environment. The computer server may permit theuser of the global neighborhood environment to mark certain informationcommunicated directly to a particular neighboring user as private (e.g.,such that privately shared information is shared only with theparticular neighboring user and is designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online community).

The computer server may filter information to only display messages froma particular neighborhood associated with each verified user. Thecomputer server may permit private posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within theneighborhood. The computer server may utilize a postcard method throughwhich the computer server generates a physical postcard that is postalmailed to verify addresses of requesting users in a particularneighborhood of the social network. The global neighborhood environmentis designed to create private websites to facilitate communication amongneighbors and build stronger neighborhoods.

In another aspect, a computer server (1) to verify that a user lives ata residence associated with a geographic location claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network using a processor and a memory,(2) to create a social network page of the user once verified in theonline neighborhood social network, (3) to enable the user to constraincommunications to neighboring users in a geospatial vicinity of theresidence of the user based on a neighborhood boundary of the onlineneighborhood social network, (4) wherein the user is provided anadditional privilege as a lead user in the online neighborhood socialnetwork based on a participation level of the user in the onlineneighborhood social network and/or an activity level of the userassociated with encouraging neighbors to participate in the onlineneighborhood social network, (5) to automatically determine a set ofaccess privileges in the online neighborhood social network associatedwith the neighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood social networkby constraining access in a private website in the online neighborhoodsocial network to the user and to neighboring users of the user based oneach residence associated with each geographic location claimed by eachuser of the online neighborhood social network verified to live withinthe neighborhood boundary. The online neighborhood social network has adomain name of nextdoor.com.

The computer server may permit the user to set a privacy settingassociated with a profile data such that certain information is markedas private in the online neighborhood social network and is thereforemasked from being visible to neighboring users of the onlineneighborhood social network. The computer server may permit the user toprovide a recommendation to neighboring users based on the residenceassociated with the geographic location claimed by the user of theonline neighborhood social network. The computer server may permit theuser of the online neighborhood social network to mark certaininformation communicated directly to a particular neighboring user asprivate, such that privately shared information is shared only with theparticular neighboring user and is designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network.

The computer server may filter information to only display messages froma particular neighborhood associated with each verified user. Thecomputer server may permit private posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within aparticular neighborhood boundary associated with the particularneighborhood. The computer server may utilize a postcard method throughwhich the computer server generates a physical postcard that is postalmailed to verify addresses of neighboring users living within theneighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood social network. Theonline neighborhood social network may be designed to create privatewebsites to facilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods.

In yet another aspect, a method includes verifying that a user lives ata residence associated with a residential address claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network using a processor and a memory,creating a social network page of the user once verified in the onlineneighborhood social network, distributing a message from the user toneighboring users that are verified to live within a neighborhoodboundary of the residence, designating the user as a lead user having anadditional privilege in a private website of the online neighborhoodsocial network confined by the neighborhood boundary based on at leastone of a participation level of the user in the online neighborhoodsocial network and an activity level of the user associated withencouraging neighboring users to participate in the online neighborhoodsocial network, automatically determining a set of access privileges inthe private website of the online neighborhood social network associatedwith the user, and restricting access to a particular neighborhood inthe private website of the online neighborhood social network to theuser and to neighboring users living within the neighborhood boundary ofthe residence.

The neighboring users are determined based on each residence associatedwith each geographic location claimed by each neighboring user of theonline neighborhood social network that is within the neighborhoodboundary. In this yet another aspect, the online neighborhood socialnetwork has a domain name of nextdoor.com. The method may includepermitting the user to set a privacy setting associated with a profiledata such that certain information is marked as private in the onlineneighborhood social network and is therefore masked from being visibleto neighboring users of the online neighborhood social network. Themethod may include distributing a recommendation of the user toneighboring users based on the residence associated with the geographiclocation claimed by the user of the online neighborhood social network.In addition, the method may publish an event listing posted by the userto neighboring users based on the residence associated with thegeographic location claimed by the user of the online neighborhoodsocial network.

The method may permit the user of the online neighborhood social networkto mark certain information communicated to a particular neighboringuser as private (e.g., may be designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network). The methodmay filter information to only display messages from a particularneighborhood associated with each verified user. The method may permitprivate posts only in the particular neighborhood to verified usershaving verified addresses within the neighborhood boundary.

The method may utilize a postcard method through which the computerserver generates a physical postcard that is postal mailed to verifyaddresses of neighboring users living within the neighborhood boundaryof the online neighborhood social network. The online neighborhoodsocial network may be designed to create private websites to facilitatecommunication among neighbors and build stronger neighborhoods. Themethods and systems disclosed herein may be implemented in any means forachieving various aspects, and may be executed in a form of amachine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, whenexecuted by a machine, cause the machine to perform any of theoperations disclosed herein. Other features will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

FIG. 1 is a system view of a global neighborhood environment 100communicating with neighborhood(s) 102A-N through a network 104, anadvertiser(s) 124, a global map data 126, an occupant data 128,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 1 illustrates the globalneighborhood environment 100, the neighborhood 102A-N, the network 104,the advertiser(s) 124, the global map data 126, and the occupant data128, according to one embodiment.

The global neighborhood environment 100 may contain a lodging module106, a search module 108, a wiki module 110, a for sale by owner module112, a rent module 114, a delivery module 130, a pushpin module 132, aretained agent module 134, a paying guest module 136, a bidding module138, a syndication module 140, a multiple listing module 142, a escrowmodule 144, and a recommendation module 146, according to oneembodiment. The neighborhood 120 may include a user 116, a residence118, a neighbor 120, a business 122, a home for sale 148, and acommunity center 150, according to one embodiment.

The global neighborhood environment 100 may include set of instructionsthat may facilitate the registered and/or unregistered user of theglobal neighborhood environment to communicate information (e.g., theinformation associated in buying, selling, listing, biding, etc.)associated with a real property in the geo-spatial environment. Theneighborhood(s) 102 may be a geographically localized communityassociated with the real property in a geospatial environment. Theneighborhood(s) 102A-N may contain registered and unregistered users ofthe global neighborhood environment associated with the real property ofthe global neighborhood environment 100. The network 104 may facilitatethe global neighborhood environment to communicate the informationassociated with the neighborhood(s) 102. The lodging module 106 mayenable the registered users of a wiki social network to geo-spatiallymark properties which the user has claimed (e.g., the registered usermay geo-spatially mark properties as available in an open market topotentially interested parties.).

The search module 108 may enable a search (e.g., a people search, abusiness search, a category search, etc.) of any data in the lodgingmodule 106 and/or may enable embedding of any content (e.g., in searchengines, blogs, social networks, professional networks, professionalnetworks, etc.) in the global neighborhood environment.

The wiki module 110 may enable the registered users to create and/orupdate their information associated with the real property in thegeo-spatial environment. A ‘wiki’ (e.g., may be enabled through the wikimodule 110) can be defined as a perpetual collective work of manyauthors. Similar to a blog in a structure and/or a logic, a wiki mayallow anyone to edit, delete and/or modify content that has been placedon the Web site using a browser interface, including the work ofprevious authors. In contrast, a blog (e.g., or a social network page),typically authored by an individual, may not allow visitors to change aoriginal posted material, only add comments to an original content. Theterm wiki may refer to either the web site or the software used tocreate the site. The term ‘wiki’ also implies fast creation, ease ofcreation, and community approval in many software contexts.

The for-sale-by-owner module 112 may provide an advertisement system tothe business that may enable the users to purchase the real property inthe neighborhood(s) 102. The for-sale-by-owner module 112 may alsomodify an availability status to a for-sale-by-owner status. Thefor-sale-by-owner module 112 may apply a metadata (e.g., indicating aprice, a duration, etc.) and/or a condition of the real property beingmarketed to the real property. The rent module 114 may modify theavailability status to a for rent status. In addition, the rent module114 may apply the metadata (e.g., indicating the price, the physicalcharacteristic, etc.) and/or the condition of the real property to thereal property. The user 116 may be the registered and/or unregisteredusers who may be interested to buy, sell, list and/or bid the realproperty in the geo-spatial environment. The residence 118 may be a realestate existing in the neighborhood(s) 102.

The business 122 may be a customer service, finance, sales, production,communications/public relations and/or marketing organization that maybe located in the neighborhood(s) 102. The advertiser(s) 124 may be theindividual and/or a firm who may be involved in encouraging the user'sattention to the real property in the geo-spatial environment through avariety of media.

The global map data 126 may contain details/maps of any area, regionand/or neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1) of thereal property in the geo-spatial environment. The occupant data 128 maybe the information associated with the registered and/or unregisteredusers of the global neighborhood environment residing in theneighborhood(s) 102. The delivery module 130 may automatically generatea marketing flyer (e.g., the marketing flyers may contain details of thereal property in print and web form). Also, the delivery module 130 maydeliver physical goods and/or services to listers and/or bidders in thegeo-spatial environment based on user generated requests in thegeo-spatial environment at a pre, during, and/or post transaction event.In addition, the delivery module 130 may install a physical marker inthe physical location of the real property based on a confirmationrequest of the user.

The pushpin module 132 may automatically set a new latitude andlongitude location when the user relocates a pointer in the geo-spatialenvironment indicating the physical location of the real property in thegeo-spatial environment. The pushpin module 132 may set the latitude andlongitude location based on a relocation of a pushpin indicator of thereal property in the geo-spatial environment.

The retained agent module 134 may modify the availability status to aretained status based on the request of the user. Also, the retainedagent module 134 may apply the agent profile of the retained agent toenable the user of the global neighborhood environment to view the agentprofile concomitantly in the real property surrounded by the wikiprofiles in the map. The paying guest module 136 may enable the user(e.g., buyer, bidder, real estate agent, etc.) to book the real propertyin the global neighborhood environment on selecting the socialnetworking profile of the another user (e.g., owner, real estate agent,etc.) who may have requested the real property as rental.

The paying guest module 136 may enable another user (e.g., owner, realestate agent, etc.) to process a payment on confirmation of a booking ofthe real property by another user on a particular time. The biddingmodule 138 may enable prospective buyer(s) to bid on any of a tenancyand/or ownership interest in the real property in the globalneighborhood environment. The bidding module 138 may pre-qualify theprospective buyer (e.g., who may have the interest to buy the realproperty) and/or may facilitate the user to invite an other prospectivebuyers to transact the real property with the user of the globalneighborhood environment.

The syndication module 140 may publish the real property across arealtor multiple listing service database when requested by the user.The multiple listing module 142 may update the listing in a multiplelisting services in the geo-spatial environment concurrently with thewiki pages and/or the real property claimed by the user. The escrowmodule 144 may carryout verifications and/or audit reporting (e.g., ahome inspection reporting, a termite inspection reporting, a titlereport auditing, a disclosure check-off procedure, etc.) associated withtransactions of the real property in the global neighborhoodenvironment.

The recommendation module 146 may create a community of a real estatetransaction, verification, and inspection parties to facilitate theescrow process. The recommendation module 146 may providerecommendations through a recommendation interface in the geo-spatialenvironment to the selected neighbors of the users in the globalneighborhood environment.

The home for sale 148 may be any real property in the neighborhood(s)102 of the global neighborhood environment offered for sale by the user(e.g., an owner, a real estate agent, an occupant, etc.) of the globalneighborhood environment. The community center 150 may be publiclocations in a surrounding area of real property in the neighborhood(s)102 where members of the community may gather for group activities,social support, public information, and other purposes.

In example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the global neighborhoodenvironment 100 may communicate with the neighborhood 102 A-N throughthe network 104. The global neighborhood environment 100 as illustratedin example embodiment of FIG. 1 may communicate the data with the globalmap data 126 and the occupant data 128. The global neighborhoodenvironment 100 may interact with the advertisers 124 according to theexample embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. In the example embodimentillustrated in FIG. 1, the lodging module 106 of the global neighborhoodenvironment 100 may communicate with the search module 108, the wikimodule 110, and the for-sale-by owner module 112.

For example, the user (e.g., the prospective buyer, the prospectivebidder, etc.) may be associated with the real property (e.g., immovableproperty such as homes, offices, commercial places, etc.) in thegeo-spatial environment when the user claims the real property. Aprofile of the user and the real property may be concurrently displayedin the geo-spatial environment in a map. Furthermore, wiki profilesassociated with different real properties (e.g., generated through thewiki module 110 of FIG. 1) may be simultaneously generated in the mapsurrounding the real property claimed by the user (e.g., the prospectivebuyer, the prospective bidder, etc.). Also, a status of the realproperty claimed by the user may be marked in the geo-spatialenvironment as being available through an indicator expressing anavailability status of the real property (e.g., the indicator mayindicate an availability as the for-sale-by owner, retained agent,property for rent, etc.).

In addition, the availability status may be modified to thefor-sale-by-owner status (e.g., through the for-sale-by owner module 112of FIG. 1). Also, the meta-data may be applied to the real propertyindicating the price, the duration, the physical characteristic, and/orthe condition of the real property. Furthermore, a set of providers(e.g., the advertisers 124 of FIG. 1) having availability to deliverand/or install a lawn sign to the physical location of the real propertymay be geo-spatially determined based on the confirmation request of theuser (e.g., the lister, the seller, etc.). Moreover, the marketing flyerhaving details of the real property may be automatically generated in aprint and/or web form.

In addition, the buyer/tenant tools 500 may also allow the user of theglobal neighborhood environment who wishes to acquire any one of thetenancy interest and ownership interest to bid and/or buy a home throughonline real property marketplace (e.g., Fatdoor.com). Furthermore, theavailability status may be retained to a retained agent status based ona request of the user (e.g., using the retained agent module 134 of FIG.1). Also, an agency profile of the retained agent may be geo-spatiallyapplied to the real property such that the agency profile may appearconcurrently with the real property and/or may be surrounded by wikiprofiles in the map. In addition, the real property across a realtormultiple listing service database may be syndicated upon request of theuser.

Also, the availability status may be modified to the for rent status(e.g., the rent status may be modified through rent module 114 of FIG.1). The meta-data indicating the price, a term, the duration, thephysical characteristic, and/or the condition of the real property maybe applied to the real property (e.g., home, office, restaurants, etc.).Furthermore, a prospective resident of the real property in a particularwindow of time in the geo-spatial environment may be booked when theuser selects a social networking profile of another user who hasrequested the real property as a rental. A payment of another user maybe processed when another user (e.g., the prospective bidder) confirms abooking of the real property on a particular day.

The prospective buyers who may wish to acquire any one of the tenancyand an ownership interest in the real property may be pre-qualified(e.g., using the bidding module 138 of FIG. 1). In addition, theprospective buyers may be enabled to bid on (e.g., using the biddingmodule 138 of FIG. 1) any one of the tenancy interest and the ownershipinterest in the real property (e.g., home, office space, restaurants,etc.). Also, an optimal one of the prospective buyers may be invited totransact the real property with the user.

In addition, a representation of properties listed in the multiplelisting services may be concurrently generated directly in thegeo-spatial environment along with the wiki pages and the real propertyclaimed by the user. Furthermore, the escrow process may be conducteddirectly in the geo-spatial environment (e.g., through the escrow module144 of FIG. 1) including any verifications and/or audit reportingassociated with the real property transaction including a homeinspection reporting, a termite inspection reporting, a flood inspectionreporting, a title report auditing, and/or a disclosure check-offprocedure.

Moreover, the community (e.g., the community center 150 of FIG. 1) ofreal estate transaction, verification, and/or inspection parties may bebuilt to facilitate the escrow process, and providing a recommendationto a chosen few of the real estate transaction, verification, and/orinspection parties to the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1)of the user through a recommendation interface in the geo-spatialenvironment.

Furthermore, a system includes any number of neighborhoods 102 havingthe registered users and/or unregistered users of a global neighborhoodenvironment 100. The system also includes a lodging module 106 of theglobal neighborhood environment 100 to enable the registered users of awiki-based social network overlying a global mapping infrastructure togeo-spatially mark properties that they have claimed as being availablein the open market to the potentially interested parties (e.g., theprospective buyers, the prospective sellers, etc.).

In addition, the system includes the wiki module 110 of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to enable the registered users to createthe social network page of themselves, and/or to edit informationassociated with the unregistered users identifiable through a viewing ofthe physical properties in which the unregistered users reside when theregistered users have knowledge of characteristics associated with theunregistered users so that the potentially interested parties have anability to view a consensus social characteristic of neighbors (e.g.,the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) surrounding a property marked as transactable.

The system may further include a search module 108 of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to enable the people search, the businesssearch, and/or the category search of any data in the lodging module 106and/or to enable embedding of any content in the global neighborhoodenvironment 100 in other search engines, blogs, social networks,professional networks and/or static websites. Also, the system mayinclude the for-sale-by-owner module 112 of the global neighborhoodenvironment 100 to modify the availability status to thefor-sale-by-owner status (e.g., the FSBO 212 of FIG. 2), to apply themeta-data indicating the price, the duration, the physicalcharacteristic, and/or the condition of the real property being marketedto the real property.

Furthermore, the system may include the delivery module 130 of theglobal neighborhood environment 100 to geo-spatially determine which ofthe set of providers have the availability to deliver and/or install thephysical marker in a physical location (e.g., when the user orders thelawn sign through get lawn sign link 504 of FIG. 5B) of the realproperty based on the confirmation request of the user, and/or toautomatically generate the marketing flyer (e.g., the lawn sign) havingdetails of the real property in the print and/or the web form. Moreover,the system may also include the pushpin module 132 to automatically setthe new latitude and longitude location based on the relocation of thepushpin indicator of the real property when the user relocates thepointer in the geo-spatial environment (e.g., using move pin link 214 ofFIG. 2) indicating the physical location of the real property.

The system may include the retained agent module 134 of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to transform the availability status to theretained agent status based on a request of the user, and/or togeo-spatially apply an agency profile of the retained agent to the realproperty such that the agency profile appears concurrently with the realproperty and is surrounded by the wiki profiles in the map.

Also, the system may include the syndication module 140 of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to publish the real property across therealtor multiple listing service database upon request of the user(e.g., the lister, the seller, the owner, etc.). In addition, the systemmay include the rent module 114 of the global neighborhood environment100 to modify the availability status to the for rent status and/or toapply the meta-data indicating the price, the term, the duration, thephysical characteristic, and/or the condition of the real property tothe real property.

The system may further include a paying guest module 136 of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to book the prospective resident (e.g., theresidence 118 of FIG. 1) of the real property in the global neighborhoodenvironment 100 in the particular window of time when the user selectsthe social networking profile of another user who has requested the realproperty as the rental, and/or to process the payment of the anotheruser (e.g., the owner, the lister, etc.) when the another user confirmsthe booking of the real property on the particular day.

The system may include the bidding module 138 of the global neighborhoodenvironment 100 to pre-qualify prospective buyers (e.g., the potentialinterested parties) who wish to acquire the tenancy and/or the ownershipinterest in the real property, to enable the prospective buyers to bidon any one of the tenancy interest and the ownership interest in thereal property, and/or to invite an optimal one of the prospective buyersto transact the real property with the user.

Furthermore, the system may include the multiple listing module 142 ofthe global neighborhood environment 100 to incorporate a representationof properties listed in the multiple listing service directly in thegeo-spatial environment along with wiki pages and a real propertyclaimed by the user (e.g., the user willing to buy/sell the realproperty).

Also, the system may include the escrow module 144 of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to perform verifications and/or auditreporting associated with the real property transaction including thehome inspection reporting, the termite inspection reporting, the floodinspection reporting, the title report auditing, and/or the disclosurecheck-off procedure.

Moreover, the system may include the recommendation module 146 of theglobal neighborhood environment 100 to build the community of realestate transaction, verification, and/or inspection parties tofacilitate the escrow process, and/or to provide the recommendation tothe chosen few of the real estate transaction (e.g., the selected usersof the global neighborhood environment 100 may be recommended),verification, and/or inspection parties to neighbors (e.g., the neighbor120 of FIG. 1) of the user through the recommendation interface in thegeo-spatial environment.

A global neighborhood environment 100 includes a first instruction setto visualize real property tenancy and/or for sale availability and/orto reside above the map data, in which the social network underlies thevisualization network in that each prospective lister and/or bidder ofthe real property may be expressible to one and other in the geo-spatialenvironment. Furthermore, the global neighborhood environment 100includes a second instruction set integrated with the first instructionset to enable users of the social network to mark owned ones of theirproperties as being available as rental properties and/or for sale andwhich provides a positive and negative user generated content ofneighbors surrounding the owned ones of the properties being availableas the rental properties and/or for sale (e.g., the availability statusof the real property may be displayed through the profile view asillustrated in FIG. 2).

In addition, the global neighborhood environment 100 includes a thirdinstruction set to provide a free form of expression of the userssharing information about any entities and/or people residing in anygeographical location identifiable in the satellite map data, and/or toprovide a technique of each of the users to claim the geographiclocation to control content in their respective claimed geographiclocations. Also, the global neighborhood environment 100 includes afourth instruction set integrated with the first instruction set and thesecond instruction set to enable global exploration of properties beingmarketed in the geo-spatial environment by indexing each of the datashared by the users of any of the people and/or entities residing in anygeographic location.

Moreover, the global neighborhood environment 100 may include a fifthinstruction set to schedule delivery of physical goods and/or servicesto listers and/or bidders in the geo-spatial environment based on usergenerated requests in the geo-spatial environment at a pre, during,and/or post transaction event.

FIG. 2 is a user interface view of for-sale profile of a real propertyin a geo-spatial environment, according to one embodiment. ParticularlyFIG. 2 illustrates the for-sale profile 200, a for-sale property 202, aguest house property 204, a for-rent property 206, a neighbor property208, a summary view 210, a FSBO 212, and a move pin link 214, accordingto one embodiment.

The for-sale profile 200 may be the profile of the real property of theglobal neighborhood environment 100 of FIG. 1 requested by the user. Thefor-sale profile 200 may display information associated with the realproperty (e.g., address, status of availability, price of the realproperty, facilities, neighborhood features, etc.) in the geo-spatialenvironment claimed by the user. The for-sale property 202 may be thereal property in the geo-spatial environment displayed in the aerial mapwindow listed by the another user (e.g., the owner of the real property,the listers, the real estate agents, etc.) for sale.

The guest house property 204 may display location of the guest houseproperty in the aerial map that may facilitate the user to book theprospective resident of the real property in the global neighborhoodenvironment 100. The for-rent property 206 may display the real propertyrequested by the user of the global neighborhood environment as rentalon the aerial map. The neighbor property 208 may display the locationand/or the information associated with the neighbor's property of theuser who may wish to acquire any one of the tenancy interest andownership interest in the real property in the surrounding area of theneighbor's property. The summary view 210 may display the informationassociated with the registered user and/or unregistered user of theglobal neighborhood environment in the map and/or may allow to edit theprofile of the user associated with the real property in the geo-spatialenvironment. The summary view 210 may enable the potentially interestedparties to view the consensus social characteristic of neighborssurrounding the real property marked as transact able through thepushpin indicator.

The FSBO 212 may display the availability status of the real property asfor-sale-by owner and/or may also enable the user (e.g., the buyer, thebidder, the tenant, etc.) to access the information associated with thereal property which the user (e.g., the buyer, the bidder, the tenant,etc.) wishes to acquire any one of the tenancy interest and ownershipinterest. The FSBO 212 may offer information that may contain the price,the physical characteristic, condition of the real property, etc. Themove pin link 214 may enable the user (e.g., the buyer, the bidder, thetenant, etc.) to view the new latitude and longitude location (e.g., thephysical location of the real property) through relocation of pushpinindicator of the real property.

In example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the user interface viewdisplays the profile of the real property in the geospatial environmentin the aerial map requested by the user who wishes to acquire any one ofthe tenant interest and ownership interest in the real property and thatmay contain the information such as address of the real property, theavailability status of the real property, the facilities in the realproperty, the price of the real property, etc.

The user interface view as illustrated in example embodiment of FIG. 2may also display the information associated with the physical locationof the real property in geo-spatial environment the such as guesthouses, properties for sale, properties for rent, neighbor's properties,etc. located by the user (e.g., the buyer, the bidder, the tenant, theowner, a real estate agent, etc.) through the pointer in the geo-spatialenvironment. The interface view illustrated in FIG. 2 may also displaythe summary view of the occupants when the user of the globalneighborhood environment 100 locates the pointer on the aerial map toview details (e.g., details of Sharbari Jones illustrated in FIG. 2) ofthe occupants associated with the real property in the geo-spatialenvironment. The interface view of FIG. 2 may enable the user of theglobal neighborhood environment 100 of FIG. 1 to locate the physicallocation of the real property through the move pin link 214.

For example, the user, resident and/or business profiles associated withthe different real properties surrounding the real property may bepreviewed in response to a mouse having both positive and/or negativewiki-compiled data. Furthermore, the new latitude and longitude locationmay be automatically set based on the relocation of the pushpinindicator of the real property when the user relocates the pointer inthe geo-spatial environment indicating the physical location of the realproperty.

It should be noted that physical mailers may be distributed to usersbased on any interest of a registered user. For example, the geospatialenvironment may be pre-seeded with postal address data. Even when anaddress is not associated with a registered user, any user (e.g., suchas a user selling and/or renting their home) may be able to communicatewith any neighbor and/or person having a physical address in thegeo-spatial environment. For example, any registered user can send amessage to an entire neighborhood. Those who are registered users mayreceive an email, while those who are not registered users may receive aphysical postcard or mailer (e.g., such as a coupon book).

Users may be able to customize a look and feel of the physical mailer.In addition, users may be able to pre-purchase electronic ‘postagestamps’, and/or create a debit/credit account that they can use to payfor physical mail pieces. A service fee may be assessed (e.g., 20% ofpostage amount) on the physical mail pieces sent through the geospatialenvironment. Likewise, each mail piece (e.g., a postcard, a home forrent/sale, an envelope, a coupon book, a greeting card, a holiday card,a wedding announcement, a block party invite) may include a logo of thegeospatial provider (e.g., a Fatdoor.com logo), to increase brandawareness. Users may receive a rebate for their mailing costs if theyallow one or more targeted text or display ads to be put on the cover orenvelope of the mail piece. As such, users in the geospatial environmentcan communicate with each other through both physical (e.g., postal) andthrough electronic (e.g., email, instant message, SMS, etc.) meanssimultaneously.

FIG. 3 is tree diagram of top level of a website for buying and/orlisting the real property in the geo-spatial environment, according toone embodiment. Particularly FIG. 3 illustrates the geo-spatialenvironment 300, a neighbor user generated content 302, the home page304, a buyer demo 306, a buyer/tenant get started 308, a buyer benefits310, a client log on 312, an agent interface 314, a marketing banners316, a bid on/view homes 318, a lister get started 320, a listerbenefits 322, a lister demo 324, an online broker support 326, an aboutus 328, renter tools 330, reservation tools 332, according to oneembodiment.

The geo-spatial environment 300 may provide and/or display virtual mapof the geographical location in the neighborhood 102A-N of the realproperty. The neighbor user generated content 302 may be the content(e.g., the content generated may be positive and/or negative) associatedwith the user located in the geographical localized community. Theneighbor user generated content 302 may be generated through the set ofinstructions contained in the global neighborhood environment 100. Thehome page 304 may be start page, front page and/or main web page of thewebsite of the entity associated with real property transaction (e.g.,the website of the real estate agency).

In addition, the home page 304 may usually include hyperlinks to otherweb pages of the website of the real property transactions in thegeo-spatial environment. The buyer demo 306 may enable the prospectivebuyer to buy and/or bid the real property associated with neighborhood102A-N through a demo (e.g., a video clip, a power point presentation,etc.). The buyer demo 306 may allow information displaying the price,the duration, the physical characteristic and/or the condition of thereal property on the request of the user (e.g., the prospective buyer).The buyer/tenant get started 308 may facilitate the prospectivebuyer/tenant (e.g., who may have a wish to acquire any one of the tenantinterest and ownership interest in the real property of theneighborhood) to bid on and/or buy online the real property in thegeo-spatial environment.

The buyer benefits 310 may offer the benefits associated with thetransaction (e.g., bidding, buying, etc.) of the real property in thegeo-spatial environment through the real property online marketplace(e.g., Fatdoor.com). The client log on 312 may permit access toprivileges and/or facilities to the registered user of the globalneighborhood environment for bidding, buying, listing, etc. The agentinterface 314 may display the retained agent status based on the requestof the user and/or may support the creation and/or retrieval of theagent listed. The marketing banners 316 may enable the registered userof the global neighborhood environment 100 to generate automatically themarketing flyer having details (e.g., details may be in print formand/or web form) of the real property.

The bid on/view homes 318 may enable the user (e.g., the prospectivebuyer, the prospective bidder, etc.) to bid on the real property in thegeo-spatial environment and/or facilitate the user to preview thedetails (e.g., the image of the real property, the informationassociated with the real property, etc.) the real property in thegeo-spatial environment.

The lister get started 320 may allow the user (e.g., the owner, the realestate agent, etc.) to list the real property for sale, for rent, etc.in the web page. The lister benefits 322 may allow the user of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., interested in listing the realproperty) to know the benefits of listing, selling and/or renting thereal property (e.g., no commission, no delays, etc.) through the onlinereal property marketplace (e.g., Fatdoor.com). The lister demo 324 mayenable the prospective lister to list and/or sell the real propertyassociated with the neighborhood 102A-N through a demo presentation(e.g., a video clip, a power point presentation, etc.). The lister demo324 may guide a user (e.g., the lister, the seller, the owner, etc.) tolist the real property on the website (e.g., Fatdoor.com).

The online broker support 326 may offer help information to the user(e.g., the prospective buyer, the lister, the seller, the agent, etc.)of the global neighborhood environment 100 to solve the problems relatedto transaction of the real property (e.g., listing, selling, renting,buying, bidding, etc.) in the geo-spatial environment. The about us 328may provide information associated with the entity (e.g., a company, afirm, a real estate agency, etc.).

The renter tools 330 may offer the information associated with renting areal property and/or may facilitate the potentially interested partiesto book the prospective resident of the real property in the geo-spatialenvironment. The renter tools 330 may also allow the prospective renterto make payment after confirmation of booking of the real property onthe particular time. The reservation tools 332 may facilitate theprospective buyer reserve transaction associated with the real estateproperty for the particular period of time.

In example embodiment FIG. 3 illustrates the home page 304 through whichthe user (e.g., the prospective buyer, the prospective seller, etc.) ofthe global neighborhood environment 100 may be enabled to chose thefacilities and/or the privileges for online transaction of the realproperty in the geo-spatial environment using the hyperlinks on thewebpage.

FIG. 4 is a tree diagram showing online selling process and biddingprocess of the real property in the geo-spatial environment, accordingto one embodiment. In example embodiment, FIG. 4 illustrates bidding andselling processes of the real property through various hyperlinksdisplayed on the website. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG.4, the user who may be interested in selling the real property obtainsthe access for website for online transaction (e.g., buying, selling,bidding, etc.) of the real property. The seller may begin the sellingprocess at the home page 304 by selecting the link seller get started320.

A in service area? link 400 may enable the user to verify whether thereal property belonging to the seller is in the service area of thewebsite associated with real property transaction in geo-spatialenvironment or not. If the real property associated with thelister/seller is not in the service area then the seller may be providedaccess to the selected virtual/referral service after clicking the linkvirtual/referral services 402 (e.g., a service provided through thelisting agents).

On the other hand, if the seller's real property is in the service areathe seller may be prompted to enter the personal information for thepurpose of starting the process through the link (step 1 input info404). Rules/disclaimers 406 may provide the seller with the informationregarding the rules and procedures governing bidding on a real propertyin the geo-spatial environment through the website (e.g., Fatdoor.com)as well as any appropriate legal action notifications and disclaimers. Astep 2 choose agent link 408 may enable the user to select a agentassociated with the transaction of real property in geo-spatialenvironment and/or may also provide more information associated with thereal estate agent.

The seller may be prompted to register with the website of real propertytransaction after submitting the necessary information associated withthe real property in the geo-spatial environment through step 3-5listing, other 410. Once the seller becomes the registered user of theglobal neighborhood environment the website enables the seller to submitdocuments and required information (e.g., the photograph of the realproperty, scheduled time of open houses, inspection reports, etc.) (Step6-7 preparation 412). Furthermore the seller may also submit an askingprice of the real property in the geo-spatial environment requested bythe seller for sale. Furthermore, a personalized transaction manager 416may be generated by which the seller will interact with the site goingforward. The website of real property transaction in geo-spatialenvironment may conduct the marketing of the real property (step 9marketing 418) that may include generating the profile of the housescontaining the availability status, address, asking price and otherinformation associated with the real property in geo-spatial environmentfor sale (home profile 428).

The seller may host an open house visit (step 10 open house visits 420)on a particular day notified to the potential interest parties throughthe internet. Then the seller may receive the offers (step 11 acceptoffer 422) through the website and seller negotiates and/or accepts theoffers from the potential interested parties. The seller may furthernegotiate any contingencies and/or other matter to facilitate closing ofescrow (step 12-15 negotiate closing 424) and transfer of properties.Selling of the real property may also put the seller in a position ofbuying (buy home? 426) a new real property.

In example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a bid on/view homes 318 mayfacilitate the user (e.g., the prospective buyer, the prospectivebidder, etc.) to bid on the real property in the geo-spatial environmentthe user wish to acquire and/or may also allow the user to view thehomes through the interface device. The home profile 428 may facilitatethe user of the global neighborhood environment 100 to view the profileof the real property in the geo-spatial environment that may includeinformation such as the availability status of the real property,address of the home, the asking price of the real property, inspectionreports, etc. The bid home page 430 may provide access to informationregarding benefits of using the site through the link benefits 432 andinformation associated with the rules, procedures and legal informationrelated to the site through link how it works 434. Also, the bid homepage 430 may allow the user to view the listing of the open housesthrough the hyper link open homes 440 and/or also may enable the user toview the homes for which bids are being accepted through the link homesfor bid 444. In addition, the seller registers link 438 may allow theuser to register the real property on the site. The bid home page 430may enable the user to bid/buy a real property through the link buyerplace bids 436. Furthermore, the user can also check whether the realproperty is in the geographical location serviced by the site or not.Also, user may query for the availability of an agent to buy a realproperty in the geo-spatial environment.

FIG. 5A is a user interface view of a buyer/tenant tools 500, accordingto one embodiment. Particularly the FIG. 5A illustrates the buyer/tenanttools 500, according to one embodiment. The buyer/tenant tools 500 mayenable the user (e.g., the buyer, tenant, etc.) of the globalneighborhood environment to access the information associated with thereal property in the geospatial environment. The buyer/tenant tools 500may offer the real property buyer/tenant to view the benefits of buyingthe real property (e.g., home) through the real property onlinemarketplace (e.g., Fatdoor.com). The buyer/tenant tools 500 mayfacilitate the user (e.g., prospective buyer, tenant, etc.) to access ademo (e.g., the videos showing the instruction of buying a home throughFatdoor.com).

In addition, the buyer/tenant tools 500 may also allow the user of theglobal neighborhood environment who wishes to acquire any one of thetenancy interest and ownership interest to bid and/or buy a home throughonline real property marketplace (e.g., Fatdoor.com). Also, thebuyer/tenant tools 500 may enable user (e.g., bidder, buyer, tenant,etc.) to express their views associated with real property (e.g., viewsassociated with the real property user planning to own/rent.)

FIG. 5B is a user interface view of the lister tools 502, according toone embodiment. The lister tools 502 may facilitate the user (e.g., alister, an owner, etc.) to express the views associated with the realproperty the users may wish to acquire. The lister tools 502 may offerthe real property lister to view the benefits of listing and/or sellinga real property (e.g., home) through the real property onlinemarketplace (e.g., Fatdoor.com). The lister tools 502 may alsofacilitate the user (e.g., prospective buyer, tenant, etc.) to access aseller's demo (e.g., the videos showing the instruction ofselling/listing a home through Fatdoor.com).

In addition, the lister tools 502 may allow the user of the globalneighborhood environment 100 to list a home on online real propertymarketplace (e.g., Fatdoor.com) through a link get started. The listertools 502 may enable the user to access other information such as chargerent, commissions, renters information, etc. The get lawn sign link 504may enable the user (e.g., the seller, the lister, etc.) to order and/orinstall the lawn sign to a physical location of the real propertythrough the lister tools 502.

FIG. 6 is a system view of a global neighborhood environment 600communicating with neighborhood(s) 602A-N through a network 604, anadvertiser(s) 624, a global map data 626, an occupant data 628,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 6 illustrates the globalneighborhood environment 600, the neighborhood 602A-N, the network 604,advertiser(s) 624, global map data 626, and the occupant data 628,according to one embodiment. The global neighborhood environment 600 maycontain a social community module 606, a search module 608, a wikimodule 610, a commerce module 612 and a map module 614. The neighborhoodmay include a user 616, a residence 618, a neighbor 620 and a business622, a community center 630, according to one embodiment.

The global neighborhood environment 600 may include any number ofneighborhoods having registered users and/or unregistered users. Theneighborhood(s) 602 may be a geographically localized community in alarger city, town, and/or suburb. The network 604 may be search engines,blogs, social networks, professional networks and static website thatmay unite individuals, groups and/or community. The social communitymodule 606 may generate a building creator in which the registered usersmay create and/or modify empty wiki profiles (e.g., a wiki profile 1706of FIG. 17A-17B, a wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, a wiki profile 2204 ofFIG. 22). The search module 608 may include searching of information ofan individual, group and/or community.

The wiki module 610 may enable the registered users to create and/orupdate their information. A ‘wiki’ (e.g., may be enabled through thewiki module 610) can be defined as a perpetual collective work of manyauthors. Similar to a blog in structure and logic, a wiki allows anyoneto edit, delete or modify content that has been placed on the Web siteusing a browser interface, including the work of previous authors. Incontrast, a blog (e.g., or a social network page), typically authored byan individual, may not allow visitors to change the original postedmaterial, only add comments to the original content. The term wikirefers to either the web site or the software used to create the site.The term ‘wiki’ also implies fast creation, ease of creation, andcommunity approval in many software contexts (e.g., wiki means “quick”in Hawaiian).

The commerce module 612 may provide an advertisement system to abusiness that may enable the users to purchase location in theneighborhood(s) 602. The map module 614 may be indulged in study,practice, representing and/or generating maps, or globes. The user 616may be an individuals and/or households that may purchase and/or usegoods and services and/or be an active member of any group or communityand/or resident and/or a part of any neighborhood(s) 602. The residence618 may be a house, a place to live and/or like a nursing home in aneighborhood(s) 602.

The community center 630 may be public locations where members of acommunity may gather for group activities, social support, publicinformation, and other purposes. The business 622 may be a customerservice, finance, sales, production, communications/public relationsand/or marketing organization that may be located in the neighborhood(s)602. The advertiser(s) 624 may be an individual and/or a firm drawingpublic who may be responsible in encouraging the people attention togoods and/or services by promoting businesses, and/or may performthrough a variety of media. The global map data 626 may contain thedetails/maps of any area, region and/or neighborhood.

In example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the social community module606 of the global neighborhood environment 600 may communicate with theneighborhood(s) 602 through the network 604 and/or the search module608. The social community module 606 of the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 may communicate with the advertiser(s) 624 through thecommerce module, the occupant data 628 and/or global map data 626through the map module 614, as illustrated in example embodiment of FIG.6.

For example, the neighborhoods 602A-N may have registered users and/orunregistered users of a global neighborhood environment 600. Also, thesocial community module 606 of the global neighborhood environment 600may generate a building creator (e.g., building builder 2102 of FIG. 21)in which the registered users may create and/or modify empty wikiprofiles, building layouts, social network pages, and/or floor levelsstructures housing residents and/or businesses in the neighborhood.

In addition, the wiki module 610 of the global neighborhood environment600 may enable the registered users to create a social network page ofthemselves, and/or may edit information associated with the unregisteredusers identifiable through a viewing of physical properties in which,the unregistered users reside when the registered users have knowledgeof characteristics associated with the unregistered users.

Furthermore, the search module 608 of the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 may enable a people search (e.g., the people searchwidget 800 of FIG. 8), a business search (e.g., the business searchmodule 802 of FIG. 8), and/or a category search (e.g., the categorysearch widget 804 of FIG. 8) of any data in the social community module606 and/or may enable embedding of any content in the globalneighborhood environment 600 in other search engines, blogs, socialnetworks, professional networks and/or static websites.

The commerce module 612 of the global neighborhood environment 600 mayprovide an advertisement system to a business who purchase theirlocation in the global neighborhood environment 600 in which theadvertisement may be viewable concurrently with a map indicating alocation of the business, and/or in which revenue may be attributed tothe global neighborhood environment 600 when the registered users and/orthe unregistered users click-in on a simultaneously displayed data ofthe advertisement along with the map indicating a location of thebusiness.

Moreover, a map module 614 of the global neighborhood environment 600may include a map data associated with a satellite data (e.g., generatedby the satellite data module 1100 of FIG. 11) which may serve as a basisof rendering the map in the global neighborhood environment 600 and/orwhich includes a simplified map generator which may transform the map toa fewer color and/or location complex form using a parcel data whichidentifies some residence, civic, and/or business locations in thesatellite data.

In addition, a first instruction set may enable a social network toreside above a map data, in which the social network may be associatedwith specific geographical locations identifiable in the map data. Also,a second instruction set integrated with the first instruction set mayenable users of the social network to create profiles of other peoplethrough a forum which provides a free form of expression of the userssharing information about any entities and/or people residing in anygeographical location identifiable in the satellite map data, and/or toprovide a technique of each of the users to claim a geographic location(e.g., a geographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A) to control content intheir respective claimed geographic locations (e.g., a geographiclocation 1704 of FIG. 17A).

Furthermore, a third instruction set integrated with the firstinstruction set and the second instruction set may enable searching ofpeople in the global neighborhood environment 600 by indexing each ofthe data shared by the user 616 of any of the people and/or the entitiesresiding in any geographic location (e.g., a geographic location 1704 ofFIG. 17A). A fourth instruction set may provide a moderation of contentabout each other posted of the user 616 through trusted users of theglobal neighborhood environment 600 who have an ability to ban specificusers and/or delete any offensive and libelous content in the globalneighborhood environment 600.

Also, a fifth instruction set may enable an insertion of any contentgenerated in the global neighborhood environment 600 in other searchengines through a syndication and/or advertising relationship betweenthe global neighborhood environment 600 and/or other internet commerceand search portals.

Moreover, a sixth instruction set may grow the social network throughneighborhood groups, local politicians, block watch communities, issueactivism groups, and neighbor(s) 620 who invite other known partiesand/or members to share profiles of themselves and/or learncharacteristics and information about other supporters and/or residentsin a geographic area of interest through the global neighborhoodenvironment 600.

Also, a seventh instruction set may determine quantify an effect on atleast one of a desirability of a location, a popularity of a location,and a market value of a location based on an algorithm that considers anumber of demographic and social characteristics of a region surroundingthe location through a reviews module.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the social community module 606 of FIG. 6,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 7 illustrates a buildingbuilder module 700, an N^(th) degree module 702, a tagging module 704, averify module 706, a groups generator module 708, a pushpin module 710,a profile module 712, an announce module 714, a people database 716, aplaces database 718, a business database 720, a friend finder module 722and a neighbor-neighbor help module 724, according to one embodiment.

The N^(th) degree module 702 may enable the particular registered userto communicate with an unknown registered user through a commonregistered user who may be a friend and/or a member of a commoncommunity. The tagging module 704 may enable the user 616 to leave briefcomments on each of the wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 ofFIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204of FIG. 22) and social network pages in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

The verify module 706 may validate the data, profiles and/or emailaddresses received from various registered user(s) before any changesmay be included. The groups generator module 708 may enable theregistered users to form groups may be depending on common interest,culture, style, hobbies and/or caste. The pushpin module 710 maygenerate customized indicators of different types of users, locations,and interests directly in the map. The profile module 712 may enable theuser to create a set of profiles of the registered users and to submitmedia content of themselves, identifiable through a map.

The announce module 714 may distribute a message in a specified range ofdistance away from the registered users when a registered user purchasesa message to communicate to certain ones of the registered userssurrounding a geographic vicinity adjacent to the particular registereduser originating the message. The people database 716 may keep recordsof the visitor/users (e.g., a user 616 of FIG. 6). The places databasemodule 718 may manage the data related to the location of the user(e.g., address of the registered user). The business database 720 maymanage an extensive list of leading information related to business. Thefriend finder module 722 may match the profile of the registered userwith common interest and/or help the registered user to get in touchwith new friends or acquaintances.

For example, the verify module 706 of the social community module 606 ofFIG. 6 may authenticate an email address of a registered user prior toenabling the registered user to edit information associated with theunregistered users through an email response and/or a digital signaturetechnique. The groups generator module 708 of the social communitymodule (e.g., the social community module 606 of FIG. 6) may enable theregistered users to form groups with each other surrounding at least oneof a common neighborhood (e.g., a neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6),political, cultural, educational, professional and/or social interest.

In addition, the tagging module 704 of the social community module(e.g., the social community module 606 of FIG. 6) may enable theregistered users and/or the unregistered users to leave brief commentson each of the wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 of FIG.17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 ofFIG. 22) and/or social network pages in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6),in which the brief comments may be simultaneously displayed when apointing device rolls over a pushpin indicating a physical propertyassociated with any of the registered users and/or the unregisteredusers. Also, the pushpin module 710 of the social community module 606of FIG. 6 may be generating customized indicators of different types ofusers, locations, and/or interests directly in the map.

Further, the announce module 714 of the social community module 606 ofFIG. 6 may distribute a message in a specified range of distance awayfrom the registered users when a registered user purchases a message tocommunicate to certain ones of the registered users surrounding ageographic vicinity adjacent to the particular registered useroriginating the message, wherein the particular registered userpurchases the message through a governmental currency and/or a number oftokens collected by the particular user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6)through a creation of content in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

In addition, the N^(th) degree module 702 of the social community module606 of FIG. 6 may enable the particular registered user to communicatewith an unknown registered user through a common registered user knownby the particular registered user and/or the unknown registered userthat is an N^(th) degree of separation away from the particularregistered user and/or the unknown registered user.

Moreover, the profile module 712 of the social community module 606 ofFIG. 6 may create a set of profiles of each one of the registered usersand to enable each one of the registered users to submit media contentof themselves, other registered users, and unregistered usersidentifiable through the map.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the search module 608 of FIG. 6, accordingto one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 8 illustrates a people searchwidget 800, a business search module 802, a category search widget 804,a communicate module 806, a directory assistance module 808, anembedding module 810, a no-match module 812, a range selector module814, a chat widget 816, a group announce widget 818, a Voice Over IPwidget 820, according to one embodiment.

The people search widget 800 may help in getting the information likethe address, phone number and/or e-mail id of the people of particularinterest from a group and/or community. The business search module 802may help the users (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) to find the companies,products, services, and/or business related information they need toknow about.

The category search widget 804 may narrow down searches from a broaderscope (e.g., if one is interested in information from a particularcenter, one can go to the category under the center and enter one'squery there and it will return results from that particular categoryonly). The communicate module 806 may provide/facilitate multiple bywhich one can communicate, people to communicate with, and subjects tocommunicate about among different members of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

The directory assistance module 808 may provide voice responseassistance to users (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) assessable through aweb and telephony interface of any category, business and search queriesof user's of any search engine contents. The embedding module 810 mayautomatically extract address and/or contact info from other socialnetworks, search engines, and content providers.

The no-match module 812 may request additional information from averified registered user (e.g., a verified registered user 1810 of FIG.18A-B, a verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) about a person,place, and business having no listing in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6)when no matches are found in a search query of the verified registereduser (e.g., a verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, a verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21).

The chat widget 816 may provide people to chat online, which is a way ofcommunicating by broadcasting messages to people on the same site inreal time. The group announcement widget 818 may communicate with agroup and/or community may be by Usenet, Mailing list, calling and/orE-mail message sent to notify subscribers. The Voice over IP widget 820may help in routing of voice conversations over the Internet and/orthrough any other IP-based network. The communicate module 806 maycommunicate directly with the people search widget 800, the businesssearch module 802, the category search widget 804, the directoryassistance module 808, the embedding module 810 may communicate with theno-match module 812 through the range selector module 814.

For example, a search module 608 of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) may enable thepeople search, the business search, and the category search of any datain the social community module (e.g., the social community module 606 ofFIG. 6) and/or may enable embedding of any content in the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6) in other search engines, blogs, social networks, professionalnetworks and/or static websites.

In addition, the communicate module 806 of the search module 608 mayenable voice over internet, live chat, and/or group announcementfunctionality in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) among different members of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6).

Also, the directory assistance module 808 of the search module 608 mayprovide voice response assistance to users (e.g., the user 616 of FIG.6) assessable through a web and/or telephony interface of any category,business, community, and residence search queries of users (e.g., theuser 616 of FIG. 6) of any search engine embedding content of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6).

The embedding module 810 of the search module 608 may automaticallyextract address and/or contact info from other social networks, searchengines, and content providers, and/or to enable automatic extraction ofgroup lists from contact databases of instant messaging platforms.

Furthermore, the no-match module 812 of the search module 608 to requestadditional information from the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B) about a person, place,and/or business having no listing in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) when nomatches are found in a search query of the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and to create a new wiki page based ona response of the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) about the at least one person, place, and/or business notpreviously indexed in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the wiki module 610 of FIG. 6, accordingto one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 9 illustrates a user-place wikimodule 900, a user-user wiki module 902, a user-neighbor wiki module904, a user-business wiki module 906, a reviews module 908, a defamationprevention module 910, a wiki-social network conversion module 912, aclaim module 914, a data segment module 916, a dispute resolution module918 and a media manage module 920, according to one embodiment.

The user-place wiki module 900 may manage the information of the user(e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) location in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).The user-user wiki module 902 may manage the user (e.g., the user 616 ofFIG. 6) to view a profile of another user and geographical location inthe neighborhood. The user-neighbor wiki module 904 may manage the user(e.g., the users 616 of FIG. 6) to view the profile of the registeredneighbor and/or may trace the geographical location of the user in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6). The user-business wiki module 906 may managethe profile of the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) managing acommercial business in the neighborhood environment. The reviews module908 may provide remarks, local reviews and/or ratings of variousbusinesses as contributed by the users (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) ofthe global neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6). The defamation prevention module 910 mayenable the registered users to modify the information associated withthe unregistered users identifiable through the viewing of the physicalproperties.

The wiki-social network conversion module 912 of the wiki module 610 ofFIG. 6 may transform the wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 ofFIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204of FIG. 22) to social network profiles when the registered users claimthe wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-17B, the wikiprofile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22).

The claim module 914 may enable the unregistered users to claim thephysical properties associated with their residence (e.g., the residence618 of FIG. 6). The dispute resolution module 918 may determine alegitimate user among different unregistered users who claim a samephysical property. The media manage module 920 may allows users (e.g.,the user 616 of FIG. 6) to manage and/or review a list any product fromproduct catalog using a fully integrated, simple to use interface.

The media manage module 920 may communicate with the user-place wikimodule 900, user-user wiki module 902, the user-neighbor wiki module 904and the reviews module 908 through user-business wiki module 906. Theuser-place wiki module 900 may communicate with the dispute resolutionmodule 918 through the claim module 914. The user-user wiki module 902may communicate with the data segment module 916 through the wiki-socialnetwork conversion module 912. The user-neighbor wild module 904 maycommunicate with the defamation prevention module 910. The user-businesswiki module 906 may communicate with the reviews module 908. Thewiki-social network conversion module 912 may communicate with the claimmodule 914.

For example, the wiki module 610 of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) may enable theregistered users to create the social network page of themselves, andmay edit information associated with the unregistered users identifiablethrough a viewing of physical properties in which the unregistered usersreside when the registered users have knowledge of characteristicsassociated with the unregistered users. Also, the claim module 914 ofwiki module 610 may enable the unregistered users to claim the physicalproperties associated with their residence.

Furthermore, the dispute resolution module 918 of the wiki module 610may determine a legitimate user of different unregistered users whoclaim a same physical property. The defamation prevention module 910 ofthe wiki module 610 may enable the registered users to modify theinformation associated with the unregistered users identifiable throughthe viewing of the physical properties, and/or to enable registered uservoting of an accuracy of the information associated with theunregistered users.

Moreover, the reviews module of the wiki module 610 may providecomments, local reviews and/or ratings of various businesses ascontributed by the registered users and/or unregistered users of theglobal network environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment600 of FIG. 6). The wiki-social network conversion module 912 of thewiki module 610 of FIG. 6 may transform the wiki profiles (e.g., thewiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A,the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22) to social network profiles when theregistered users claim the wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 ofFIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204of FIG. 22).

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the commerce module 612 of FIG. 6,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 10 illustrates a residentannounce payment module 1000, a business display advertisement module1002, a geo position advertisement ranking module 1004, a contentsyndication module 1006, a text advertisement module 1008, a communitymarketplace module 1010, a click-in tracking module 1012, aclick-through tracking module 1014, according to one embodiment.

The community marketplace module 1010 may contain garage sales 1016, afree stuff 1018, a block party 1020 and services 1022, according to oneembodiment. The geo-position advertisement ranking module 1004 maydetermine an order of the advertisement in a series of otheradvertisements provided in the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) by other advertisers.The click-through tracking module 1014 may determine a number ofclick-throughs from the advertisement to a primary website of thebusiness.

A click-in tracking module 1012 may determine a number of user (e.g.,the user 616 of FIG. 6) who clicked in to the advertisementsimultaneously. The community marketplace module 1010 may provide aforum in which the registered users can trade and/or announce messagesof trading events with at least each other. The content syndicationmodule 1006 may enable any data in the commerce module (e.g., thecommerce module 612 of FIG. 6,10) to be syndicated to other networkbased trading platforms.

The business display advertisement module 1002 may impart advertisementsrelated to business (e.g., the business 622 of FIG. 6), publicrelations, personal selling, and/or sales promotion to promotecommercial goods and services. The text advertisement module 1008 mayenable visibility of showing advertisements in the form of text in alldynamically created pages in the directory. The resident announcepayment module 1000 may take part as component in a broader and complexprocess, like a purchase, a contract, etc.

The block party 1020 may be a large public celebration in which manymembers of a single neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG.6) congregate to observe a positive event of some importance. The freestuff 1018 may be the free services (e.g., advertisement, links etc)available on the net. The garage sales 1016 may be services that may bedesigned to make the process of advertising and/or may find a garagesale more efficient and effective. The services 1022 may be non-materialequivalent of a good designed to provide a list of services that may beavailable for the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6).

The geo position advertisement ranking module 1004 may communicate withthe resident announce payment module 1000, the business displayadvertisement module 1002, the content syndication module 1006, the textadvertisement module 1008, the community marketplace module 1010, theclick-in tracking module 1012 and the click-through tracking module1014.

For example, the commerce module 608 of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6)may provide an advertisement system to a business which may purchasetheir location in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) in which the advertisement maybe viewable concurrently with a map indicating a location of thebusiness, and/or in which revenue may be attributed to the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6) when the registered users and/or the unregistered usersclick-in on a simultaneously displayed data of the advertisement alongwith the map indicating a location of the business.

Also, the geo-position advertisement ranking module 1004 of the commercemodule 612 may determine an order of the advertisement in a series ofother advertisements provided in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) by otheradvertisers, wherein the advertisement may be a display advertisement, atext advertisement, and/or an employment recruiting portal associatedwith the business that may be simultaneously displayed with the mapindicating the location of the business.

Moreover, the click-through tracking module 1014 of the commerce module612 of FIG. 6 may determine a number of click-throughs from theadvertisement to a primary website of the business. In addition, theclick in tracking module 1012 of the commerce module 612 may determinethe number of users (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) who clicked in to theadvertisement simultaneously displayed with the map indicating thelocation of the business.

The community marketplace module 1010 of the commerce module 612 of FIG.6 may provide a forum in which the registered users may trade and/orannounce messages of trading events with certain registered users ingeographic proximity from each other. Also, the content syndicationmodule 1006 of the commerce module 612 of the FIG. 6 may enable any datain the commerce module 612 to be syndicated to other network basedtrading platforms.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a map module 614 of FIG. 6, according toone embodiment. Particularly FIG. 11 may include a satellite data module1100, a simplified map generator module 1102, a cartoon map convertermodule 1104, a profile pointer module 1106, a parcel module 1108 andoccupant module 1110, according to one embodiment. The satellite datamodule 1100 may help in mass broadcasting (e.g., maps) and/or astelecommunications relays in the map module 614 of FIG. 6.

The simplified map generator module 1102 may receive the data (e.g.,maps) from the satellite data module 1100 and/or may convert thiscomplex map into a simplified map with fewer colors. The cartoon mapconverter module 1104 may apply a filter to the satellite data (e.g.,data generated by the satellite data module 1100 of FIG. 11) into asimplified polygon based representation.

The parcel module 1108 may identify some residence, civic, and businesslocations in the satellite data (e.g., the satellite data module 1100 ofFIG. 11). The occupant module 1110 may detect the geographical locationof the registered user in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The profile pointermodule 1106 may detect the profiles of the registered user via the datareceived from the satellite. The cartoon map converter module 1104 maycommunicate with, the satellite data module 1100, the simplified mapgenerator module 1102, the profile pointer module 1106 and the occupantmodule 1110. The parcel module 1108 may communicate with the satellitedata module 1100.

For example, a map module 614 of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) may include amap data associated with a satellite data (e.g., data generated by thesatellite data module 1100 of FIG. 11) which serves as a basis ofrendering the map in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) and/or which includes asimplified map generator (e.g., the simplified map generator module 1102of FIG. 11) which may transform the map to a fewer color and locationcomplex form using a parcel data which identifies residence, civic, andbusiness locations in the satellite data.

Also, the cartoon map converter module 1104 in the map module 614 mayapply a filter to the satellite data (e.g., data generated by thesatellite data module 1100 of FIG. 11) to transform the satellite datainto a simplified polygon based representation using a Bezier curvealgorithm that converts point data of the satellite data to a simplifiedform.

FIG. 12 is a table view of user address details, according to oneembodiment. Particularly the table 1250 of FIG. 12 illustrates a userfield 1200, a verified field? 1202, a range field 1204, a principaladdress field 1206, a links field 1208, a contributed? field 1210 and another field(s) 1212, according to one embodiment. The table 1250 mayinclude the information related to the address verification of the user(e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6). The user field 1200 may includeinformation such as the names of the registered users in a globalneighborhood environment (e.g., a global neighborhood environment 600 ofFIG. 6).

The verified? field 1202 may indicate the status whether the data,profiles and/or email address received from various registered user arevalidated or not. The range field 1204 may correspond to the distance ofa particular registered user geographical location in the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6).

The principal address field 1206 may display primary address of theregistered user in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The links field 1208 mayfurther give more accurate details and/or links of the address of theuser (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6). The contributed? field 1210 mayprovide the user with the details of another individual and/or userscontribution towards the neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The other(s) field 1212 maydisplay the details like the state, city, zip and/or others of theuser's location in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

The user field 1200 displays “Joe” in the first row and “Jane” in thesecond row of the user field 1200 column of the table 1250 illustratedin FIG. 12. The verified field? 1202 displays “Yes” in the first row and“No” in the second row of the verified? field 1202 column of the table1250 illustrated in FIG. 12. The range field 1204 displays “5 miles” inthe first row and “Not enabled” in the second row of the range field1204 column of the table 1250 illustrated in FIG. 12. The principaladdress field 1206 displays “500 Clifford Cupertino, Calif.” in thefirst row and “500 Johnson Cupertino, Calif.” in the second row of theprinciple address field 1206 column of the table 1250 illustrated inFIG. 12. The links field 1208 displays “859 Bette, 854 Bette” in thefirst row and “851 Bette 100 Steven's Road” in the second row of thelinks field 1208 column of the table 1250 illustrated in FIG. 12.

The contributed? field 1210 displays “858 Bette, 10954, Farallone” inthe first row and “500 Hamilton, 1905E University” in the second row ofthe contributed field 1210 column of the table 1250 illustrated in FIG.12. The other(s) field 1212 displays “City, State, Zip, other” in thefirst row of the other(s) field 1212 column of the table 1250illustrated in FIG. 12.

FIG. 13 is a user interface view of the social community module 606,according to one embodiment. The user interface view 1350 may displaythe information associated with the social community module (e.g., thesocial community module 606 of FIG. 6). The user interface view 1350 maydisplay map of the specific geographic location associated with the userprofile of the social community module (e.g., the social communitymodule 606 of FIG. 6). The user interface view 1350 may display the mapbased geographic location associated with the user profile (e.g., theuser profile 1700 of FIG. 17A) only after verifying the address of theregistered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

In addition, the user interface view 1350 may provide a building creator(e.g., the building builder 2102 of FIG. 21), in which the registeredusers of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) may create and/or modify emptywiki profiles (e.g., a wiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-17B, a wiki profile1802 of FIG. 18A, a wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22), building layouts,social network pages, etc. The user interface view 1350 of the socialcommunity module 606 may enable access to the user (e.g., the user 616of FIG. 6) to model a condo on any floor (e.g., basement, ground floor,first floor, etc.) selected through the drop down box by the registereduser of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The user interface view 1350 ofthe social community module (e.g., the social community module 606 ofFIG. 6) may enable the registered user of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) tocontribute information about their neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 ofFIG. 6).

FIG. 14 is a profile view 1450 of a profile module 1400, according toone embodiment. The profile view 1450 of profile module 1400 may offerthe registered user to access the profile about the neighbors (e.g., theneighbor 620 of FIG. 6). The profile view 1450 of profile module 1400may indicate the information associated with the profile of theregistered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The profile view 1450 maydisplay the address of the registered user. The profile view 1450 mayalso display events organized by the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620of FIG. 6), history of the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6),and/or may also offer the information (e.g., public, private, etc)associated with the family of the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 ofFIG. 6) located in the locality of the user (e.g., the user(s) 616 ofFIG. 6) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

FIG. 15 is a contribute view 1550 of a neighborhood network module 1500,according to one embodiment. The contribute view 1550 of theneighborhood network module 1500 may enable the registered user of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) to add information about their neighbors inthe neighborhood network. The contribute view 1550 of the neighborhoodnetwork module 1500 may offer registered user of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) toadd valuable notes associated with the family, events, privateinformation, etc.

FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic system view, according to one embodiment. FIG.16 is a diagrammatic system view 1600 of a data processing system inwhich any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be performed,according to one embodiment. Particularly, the diagrammatic system view1600 of FIG. 16 illustrates a processor 1602, a main memory 1604, astatic memory 1606, a bus 1608, a video display 1610, an alpha-numericinput device 1612, a cursor control device 1614, a drive unit 1116, asignal generation device 1618, a machine readable medium 1622,instructions 1624, and a network 1626, according to one embodiment.

The diagrammatic system view 1600 may indicate a personal computerand/or a data processing system in which one or more operationsdisclosed herein are performed. The processor 1602 may bemicroprocessor, a state machine, an application specific integratedcircuit, a field programmable gate array, etc. (e.g., Intel® Pentium®processor). The main memory 1604 may be a dynamic random access memoryand/or a primary memory of a computer system.

The static memory 1606 may be a hard drive, a flash drive, and/or othermemory information associated with the data processing system. The bus1608 may be an interconnection between various circuits and/orstructures of the data processing system. The video display 1610 mayprovide graphical representation of information on the data processingsystem. The alpha-numeric input device 1612 may be a keypad, keyboardand/or any other input device of text (e.g., a special device to aid thephysically handicapped). The cursor control device 1614 may be apointing device such as a mouse.

The drive unit 1616 may be a hard drive, a storage system, and/or otherlonger term storage subsystem. The signal generation device 1618 may bea bios and/or a functional operating system of the data processingsystem. The machine readable medium 1622 may provide instructions onwhich any of the methods disclosed herein may be performed. Theinstructions 1624 may provide source code and/or data code to theprocessor 1602 to enable any one/or more operations disclosed herein.

FIG. 17A is a user interface view of mapping a user profile 1700 of thegeographic location 1704, according to one embodiment. In the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 17A, the user profile 1700 may containthe information associated with the geographic location 1704. The userprofile 1700 may contain the information associated with the registereduser. The user profile 1700 may contain information such as address userof the specific geographic location, name of the occupant, profession ofthe occupant, details, phone number, educational qualification, etc.

The map 1702 may indicate the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) of the geographicallocation 1704, a wiki profile 1706 (e.g., the wiki profile 1802 of FIG.18A, the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22), and a delisted profile 1708. Thegeographical location 1704 may be associated with the user profile 1700.The wiki profile 1706 may be the wiki profile 1706 associated with theneighboring property surrounding the geographic location 1704. Thedelisted profile 1708 illustrated in example embodiment of FIG. 17A, maybe the wiki profile 1706 that may be delisted when the registered userclaims the physical property. The block 1710 illustrated in the exampleembodiment of FIG. 17A may be associated with hobbies, personal likes,etc. The block 1716 may be associated with events, requirements, etc.that may be displayed by the members of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

For example, a verified registered user (e.g., a verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, a verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) maybe associated with a user profile 1700. The user profile 1700 may beassociated with a specific geographic location. A map concurrentlydisplaying the user profile 1700 and the specific geographic location1704 may be generated. Also, the wiki profiles 1706 associated withdifferent geographic locations surrounding the specific geographiclocation associated with the user profile 1700 may be simultaneouslygenerated in the map. In addition, a query of the user profile 1700and/or the specific geographic location may be processed.

Similarly, a tag data (e.g., the tags 1710 of FIG. 17A) associated withthe specific geographic locations, a particular geographic location, andthe delisted geographic location may be processed. A frequent one of thetag data (e.g., the tags 1710 of FIG. 17A) may be displayed when thespecific geographic location and/or the particular geographic locationis made active, but not when a geographic location is delisted.

FIG. 17B is a user interface view of mapping of the wiki profile 1706,according to one embodiment. In the example embodiment illustrated inFIG. 17B, the map 1702 may indicate the geographic locations in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) and/or may also indicate the geographiclocation of the wiki profile 1706. The wiki profile 1706 may display theinformation associated with the registered user of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6). The link claim this profile 1712 may enable the registereduser to claim the wiki profile 1706 and/or may also allow the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18) toedit any information in the wiki profiles 1706. The block 1714 maydisplay the information posted by any of the verified registered users(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

For example, a particular wiki profile (e.g., the particular wikiprofile may be associated with a neighboring property to the specificproperty in the neighborhood) of the wiki profiles (e.g., the wikiprofile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22) may beconverted to another user profile (e.g., the user profile may be tied toa specific property in a neighborhood) when a different registered user(e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) claims a particular geographic locationto the specific geographic location associated with the particular wikiprofile.

In addition, a certain wiki profile of the wiki profiles may bede-listed when a private registered user claims a certain geographiclocation (e.g., the geographical location 1704 of FIG. 17A) adjacent tothe specific geographic location and/or the particular geographiclocation. Also, the certain wiki profile in the map 1702 may be maskedwhen the certain wiki profile is de-listed through the request of theprivate registered user.

Furthermore, a tag data (e.g., the tags 1710 of FIG. 17A) associatedwith the specific geographic location, the particular geographiclocation, and the de-listed geographic location may be processed. Afrequent one of the tag data may be displayed when the specificgeographic location and/or the particular geographic location are madeactive, but not when a geographic location is de-listed.

Moreover, the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21)may be permitted to edit any information in the wiki profiles 1706including the particular wiki profile 1706 and/or the certain wikiprofile until the certain wiki profile may be claimed by the differentregistered user and/or the private registered user. In addition, aclaimant of any wiki profile 1706 may be enabled to control whatinformation is displayed on their user profile. Also, the claimant maybe allowed to segregate certain information on their user profile 1700such that only other registered users directly connected to the claimantare able to view data on their user profile 1700.

FIG. 18A is a user interface view of mapping of a wiki profile 1802 ofthe commercial user 1800, according to one embodiment. In the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 18A, the commercial user 1800 may beassociated with the customizable business profile 1804 located in thecommercial geographical location. The wiki profile 1802 may contain theinformation associated with the commercial user 1800. The wiki profile1802 may contain the information such as address, name, profession, tag,details (e.g., ratings), and educational qualification etc. of thecommercial user 1800. The verified registered user 1810 may be userassociated with the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) and may communicate a message tothe neighborhood commercial user 1800. For example, a payment of thecommercial user 1800 and the verified registered user 1810 may beprocessed.

FIG. 18B is a user interface view of mapping of customizable businessprofile 1804 of the commercial user 1800, according to one embodiment.In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18B, the commercial user1800 may be associated with the customizable business profile 1804. Thecustomizable business profile 1804 may be profile of any business firm(e.g., restaurant, hotels, supermarket, etc.) that may containinformation such as address, occupant name, profession of thecustomizable business. The customizable business profile 1804 may alsoenable the verified registered user 1810 to place online order for theproducts.

For example, the commercial user 1800 may be permitted to purchase acustomizable business profile 1804 associated with a commercialgeographic location. Also, the verified registered user 1810 may beenabled to communicate a message to the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) based on aselectable distance range away from the specific geographic location. Inaddition, a payment of the commercial user 1800 and/or the verifiedregistered user 1810 may be processed.

A text advertisement 1806 may display the information associated withthe offers and/or events of the customizable business. The displayadvertisement 1808 may display ads of the products of the customizablebusiness that may be displayed to urge the verified registered user 1810to buy the products of the customizable business. The verifiedregistered user 1810 may be user associated with the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6)that may communicate a message to the commercial user 1800 and/or may beinterested in buying the products of the customizable business.

FIG. 19 is a user interface view of a groups view 1902 associated withparticular geographical location, according to one embodiment.Particularly FIG. 19 illustrates, a map 1900, a groups view 1902,according to one embodiment. In the example embodiment illustrated inFIG. 19, the map view 1900 may display map view of the geographicallocation of the specific group of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The groupsview 1902 may contain the information (e.g., address, occupant, etc.)associated with the particular group of the specific geographicallocation (e.g., the geographical location displayed in the map 1900) ofthe global neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6). The members 1904 may contain the informationabout the members associated with the group (e.g., the group associatedwith geographical location displayed in the map) of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6).

FIG. 20 is a user interface view of claim view 2050, according to oneembodiment. The claim view 2050 may enable the user to claim thegeographical location of the registered user. Also, the claim view 2050may facilitate the user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) to claim thegeographical location of property under dispute.

In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 20, the operation 2002 mayallow the registered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) to claim the addressof the geographic location claimed by the registered user. The operation2004 illustrated in example embodiment of FIG. 20, may enable the userto de-list the claim of the geographical location. The operation 2006may offer information associated with the document to be submitted bythe registered users of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) to claim the geographicallocation.

FIG. 21 is a user interface view of a building builder 2102, accordingto one embodiment. Particularly the FIG. 21 illustrates, a map 2100, abuilding builder 2102, according to one embodiment. The map 2100 maydisplay the geographical location in which the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B) may createand/or modify empty wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 of FIG.17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 ofFIG. 22), building layouts, social network pages, and floor levelsstructures housing residents and businesses in the neighborhood (e.g.,the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6). The building builder 2102 may enablethe verified registered users (e.g., the verified registered user 1810of FIG. 18A-B) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) to draw floor level structures,add neighbor's profiles and/or may also enable to select the floornumber, wiki type, etc. as illustrated in example embodiment of FIG. 21.

The verified registered user 1810 may be verified registered user of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) interested in creating and/or modifying wikiprofiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22), building layouts,social network pages, and floor level structure housing residents andbusinesses in the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6)in the building builder 2102.

For example, a social community module (e.g., a social community module606 of FIG. 6) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) may generate a building creator(e.g., the building builder 2102 of FIG. 21) in which the registeredusers may create and/or modify empty wiki profiles (e.g., the wikiprofile 1706 of FIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, thewiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22), building layouts, social network pages,and floor levels structures housing residents and/or businesses in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6).

FIG. 22 is a systematic view of communication of wiki data, according toone embodiment. Particularly FIG. 22 illustrates a map 2201, verifieduser profile 2202, choices 2208 and a new wiki page 2206, according toone embodiment. The map 2201 may locate the details of the address ofthe registered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The verified userprofile 2202 may store the profiles of the verified user of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6. The wiki profile 2204 may be the profiles of the registereduser who may claim them in the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

In operation 2200 the search for the user profile (e.g., the userprofile 1700 of FIG. 17A) may be carried out by the registered user. Thenew wiki page 2206 may solicit for the details of a user whom theregistered user is searching for in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The choices2208 may ask whether the requested search is any among the displayednames. The new wiki page 2206 may request for the details of locationsuch as country, state and/or city. The operation 2200 may communicatewith the choices 2208, and the new wiki page 2206.

For example, a no-match module (e.g., a no-match module 812 of FIG. 8)of the search module (e.g., the search module 608 of FIG. 6)to requestadditional information from the verified registered user about a person,place, and business having no listing in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6)when no matches are found in a search query of the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B), and tocreate a new wiki page 2206 based on a response of the verifiedregistered user 2202 about the at least one person, place, and businessnot previously indexed in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

FIG. 23 is a systematic view of a network view 2350, according to oneembodiment. Particularly it may include a GUI display 2302, a GUIdisplay 2304, user interface 2306, a user interface 2308, a network2310, a router 2312, a switch 2314, a firewall 2316, a load balancer2318, an application server#1 2324, a web application server 2326, aninter-process communication 2328, a computer server 2330, an imageserver 2332, a multiple servers 2334, a switch 2336, a database storage2338, database software 2340 and a mail server 2342, according to oneembodiment.

The GUI display 2302 and GUI display 2304 may display particular case ofuser interface for interacting with a device capable of representingdata (e.g., computer, cellular telephones, television sets etc) whichemploys graphical images and widgets in addition to text to representthe information and actions available to the user (e.g., the user 616 ofFIG. 6). The user interface 2306 and user interface 2308 may be anydevice capable of presenting data (e.g., computer, cellular telephones,television sets etc). The network 2310 may be any collection of networks(e.g., internet, private networks, university social system, privatenetwork of a company etc) that may transfer any data to the user (e.g.,the user 616 of FIG. 6) and the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

The router 2312 may forward packets between networks and/or informationpackets between the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) and registered user over thenetwork (e.g., internet). The switch 2314 may act as a gatekeeper to andfrom the network (e.g., internet) and the device. The firewall 2316 mayprovides protection (e.g., permit, deny or proxydata connections) fromunauthorized access to the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6. The load balancer 2318may balance the traffic load across multiple mirrored servers in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) and may be used to increase the capacity of aserver farm beyond that of a single server and/or may allow the serviceto continue even in the face of server down time due to server failureand/or server maintenance.

The application server 2322 may be server computer on a computer networkdedicated to running certain software applications of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600of FIG. 6). The web application server 2326 may be server holding allthe web pages associated with the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The inter-processcommunication 2328 may be set of rules for organizing and un-organizingfactors and results regarding the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The computer server2330 may serve as the application layer in the multiple servers of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) and/or may include a central processing unit(CPU), a random access memory (RAM) temporary storage of information,and/or a read only memory (ROM) for permanent storage of informationregarding the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

The image server 2332 may store and provide digital images of theregistered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The multiple servers 2334 maybe multiple computers or devices on a network that may manage networkresources connecting the registered user and the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).The database storage 2338 may store software, descriptive data, digitalimages, system data and any other data item that may be related to theuser (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).The database software 2340 may be provided a database management systemthat may support the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the globalneighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6). The mail server 2342 may beprovided for sending, receiving and storing mails. The user interface2306 and 2308 may communicate with the GUI display(s) 2302 and 2304, therouter 2312 through the network 2310 and the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6).

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a database, according to one embodiment.Particularly the block diagram of the database 2400 of FIG. 24illustrates a user data 2402, a location data, a zip codes data 2406, aprofiles data 2408, a photos data 2410, a testimonials data 2412, asearch parameters data 2414, a neighbor's data 2416, a friends requestsdata 2418, a invites data 2420, a bookmarks data 2422, a message data2424 and a bulletin board data 2426, and a wiki data 2428, according toone embodiment.

The database 2400 be may include descriptive data, preference data,relationship data, and/or other data items regarding the registered userof the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6.

The user data 2402 may be a descriptive data referring to informationthat may describe a user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6). It may includeelements in a certain format for example Id may be formatted as integer,Firstname may be in text, Lastname may be in text, Email may be in text,Verify may be in integer, Password may be in text, Gender may be in m/f,Orientation may be in integer, Relationship may be in y/n, Dating may bein y/n, Friends may be in y/n, Activity may be in y/n, Status may be ininteger, Dob may be in date, Country may be in text, Zipcode may be intext, Postalcode may be in text, State may be in text, Province may bein text, City may be in text, Occupation may be in text, Location may bein text, Hometown may be in text, Photo may be in integer, Membersincemay be in date, Lastlogin may be in date, Lastupdate may be in date,Recruiter may be in integer, Friendcount may be in integer, Testimonialsmay be in integer, Weeklypdates may be in y/n, Notifications may be iny/n, Photomode may be in integer and/or Type may be in integer.

The locations data 2404 may clarify the location details in formattedapproach. For example Zip code may be formatted as integer, City may bein text and/or State may be in text. The zip codes data 2406 may provideinformation of a user location in formatted manner. For example Zip codemay be formatted as text, Latitude may be in integer and/or Longitudemay be in integer. The profile data 2408 may clutch personneldescriptive data that may be formatted.

For examples ID may be formatted as integer, Interests may be in text,Favoritemusic may be in text, Favaoritebooks may be in text, Favoritetvmay be in text, Favoritemovies may be in text, Aboutme may be in text,Wanttomeet may be in text, Ethnicity may be in integer, Hair may be ininteger, Eyes may be in integer, Height may be in integer, Body may bein integer, Education may be in integer, Income may be in integer,Religion may be in integer, Politics may be in integer Smoking may be ininteger, Drinking may be in integer and/or Kids may be in integer.

The photos data 2410 may represent a digital image and/or a photographof the user formatted in certain approach. For example Id may beformatted as integer, User may be in integer, Fileid may be in integerand/or Moderation may be in integer. The testimonials data 2412 mayallow users to write “testimonials” 2412, or comments, about each otherand in these testimonials, users may describe their relationship to anindividual and their comments about that individual. For example theuser might write a testimonial that states “Rohan has been a friend ofmine since graduation days. He is smart, intelligent, and a talentedperson.” The elements of testimonials data 2412 may be formatted as Idmay be in integer, User may be in integer, Sender may be integer,Approved may be in y/n, Date may be in date and/or Body may be formattedin text.

The search parameters data 2414 may be preference data referring to thedata that may describe preferences one user has with respect to another(For example, the user may indicate that he is looking for a female whois seeking a male for a serious relationship). The elements of thesearch parameters data 2414 may be formatted as User 2402 may be ininteger, Photosonly may be in y/n, Justphotos may be in y/n, Male may bein y/n, Female may be in y/n, Men may be in y/n, Women may be in y/n,Helptohelp may be in y/n, Friends may be in y/n, Dating may be in y/n,Serious may be in y/n, Activity may be in y/n, Minage may be in integer,Maxage may be in integer, Distance may be in integer, Single may be iny/n, Relationship may be in y/n, Married may be in y/n and/orOpenmarriage may be in y/n.

The neighbor's data 2416 may generally refer to relationships amongregistered users of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theglobal neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6) that have been verifiedand the user has requested another individual to join the system asneighbor's data 2416, and the request may be accepted. The elements ofthe neighbors data 2416 may be formatted as user1 may be in integerand/or user2 may be in integer. The friend requests data 2418 may tracksrequests by users within the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-Nof FIG. 6) to other individuals, which requests have not yet beenaccepted and may contain elements originator and/or respondent formattedin integer. The invites data 2420 may describe the status of a requestby the user to invite an individual outside the neighborhood (e.g., theneighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6) to join the neighborhood (e.g., theneighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6) and clarify either the request has beenaccepted, ignored and/or pending.

The elements of the invites data 2420 may be formatted as Id may be ininteger, Key may be in integer, Sender may be in integer, Email may bein text, Date may be in date format, Clicked may be in y/n, Joined maybe in y/n and/or Joineduser may be in integer. The bookmarks data 2422may provide the data for a process allowed wherein a registered user ofthe global neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) may indicate an interest in the profile ofanother registered user. The bookmark data 2422 elements may beformatted as Owner may be in integer, User may be in integer and/orVisible may be in y/n. The message data 2424 may allow the users to sendone another private messages.

The message data 2424 may be formatted as Id may be in integer, (e.g.,User may be in integer, Sender may be in integer, New may be in y/n,Folder may be in text, Date may be in date format, Subject may be intext and/or Body may be in text format) The bulletin board data 2426 maysupport the function of a bulletin board that users may use to conductonline discussions, conversation and/or debate. The wiki data 2428 mayshare the user profiles (e.g., the user profile 1700 of FIG. 17A) in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6) and its elementsmay be formatted as wikisinputted and/or others may be in text format.

FIG. 25 is an exemplary graphical user interface view for datacollection, according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 25illustrates exemplary screens 2502, 2504 that may be provided to theuser (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) through an interface may be throughthe network (e.g., Internet), to obtain user descriptive data. Thescreen 2502 may collect data allowing the user (e.g., the user 616 ofFIG. 6) to login securely and be identified by the neighborhood (e.g.,the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 1). This screen 2502 may allow the userto identify the reason he/she is joining the neighborhood. For example,a user may be joining the neighborhood for “neighborhood watch”. Thescreen 2504 may show example of how further groups may be joined. Forexample, the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) may be willing to joina group “Raj for city council”. It may also enclose the data concerningDob, country, zip/postal code, hometown, occupation and/or interest.

FIG. 26 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of imagecollection, according to one embodiment. A screen 2600 may be interfaceprovided to the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) over the network(e.g., internet) may be to obtain digital images from system user. Theinterface 2602 may allow the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) tobrowse files on his/her computer, select them, and then upload them tothe neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6). The user(e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) may upload the digital images and/orphoto that may be visible to people in the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor620 of FIG. 6) network and not the general public. The user may be ableto upload a JPG, GIF, PNG and/or BMP file in the screen 2600.

FIG. 27 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of an invitation,according to one embodiment. An exemplary screen 2700 may be provided toa user through a user interface 2702 may be over the network (e.g.,internet) to allow users to invite neighbor or acquaintances to join theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6). The userinterface 2702 may allow the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) toenter one or a plurality of e-mail addresses for friends they may liketo invite to the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6).The exemplary screen 2700 may include the “subject”, “From”, “To”,“Optional personnel message”, and/or “Message body” sections. In the“Subject” section a standard language text may be included for joiningthe neighborhood (e.g., Invitation to join Fatdoor from John Doe, aneighborhood.).

The “From” section may include the senders email id (e.g.,user@domain.com). The “To” section may be provided to add the email idof the person whom the sender may want to join the neighborhood (e.g.,the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6). The message that may be sent to thefriends and/or acquaintances may include standard language describingthe present neighborhood, the benefits of joining and the steps requiredto join the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6). Theuser (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) may choose to include a personalmessage, along with the standard invitation in the “Optional personalmessage” section. In the “Message body” section the invited friend oracquaintance may initiate the process to join the system by clickingdirectly on an HTML link included in the e-mail message (e.g.,http://www.fatdoor.com/join.jsp? Invite=140807). In one embodiment, theuser (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) may import e-mail addresses from astandard computerized address book. The system may further notify theinviting user when her invitee accepts or declines the invitation tojoin the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6).

FIG. 28 is a flowchart of inviting the invitee(s) by the registereduser, notifying the registered user upon the acceptance of theinvitation by the invitee(s) and, processing and storing the input dataassociated with the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) in the database,according to one embodiment. In operation 2802, the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) willing to invite theindividual enters the email addresses of an individual “invitee”. Inoperation 2804, the email address and the related data of the inviteemay be stored in the database. In operation 2806, the invitation contentfor inviting the invitee may be generated from the data stored in thedatabase. In operation 2808, the registered user sends invitation to theinvitee(s).

In operation 2810, response from the user (e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6)may be determined. In operation 2812, if the invitee doesn't respond toinvitation sent by the registered user then registered user may resendthe invitation for a predefined number of times. In operation 2814, ifthe registered user resends the invitation to the same invitee forpredefined number of times and if the invitee still doesn't respond tothe invitation the process may be terminated automatically.

In operation 2816, if the invitee accepts the invitation sent by theregistered user then system may notify the registered user that theinvitee has accepted the invitation. In operation 2818, the input fromthe present invitee(s) that may contain the descriptive data about thefriend (e.g., registered user) may be processed and stored in thedatabase.

For example, each registered user associated e-mail addresses ofindividuals who are not registered users may be stored and identified byeach registered user as neighbors. An invitation to become a new user(e.g., the user 616 of FIG. 6) may be communicated out to neighbor(e.g., the neighbors neighbor of FIG. 6) of the particular user. Anacceptance of the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) to whomthe invitation was sent may be processed.

The neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) may be added to adatabase and/or storing of the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG.6), a user ID and a set of user IDs of registered users who are directlyconnected to the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6), the set ofuser IDs stored of the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6)including at least the user ID of the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21). Furthermore, the verified registered user may benotified that the invitation to the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 ofFIG. 6) has been accepted when an acceptance is processed. Also, inputsfrom the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) having descriptivedata about the friend may be processed and the inputs in the databasemay be stored.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of adding the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 ofFIG. 6) to the queue, according to one embodiment. In operation 2902,the system may start with the empty connection list and empty queue. Inoperation 2904, the user may be added to the queue. In operation 2906,it is determined whether the queue is empty. In operation 2908, if it isdetermined that the queue is not empty then the next person P may betaken from the queue. In operation 2910, it may be determined whetherthe person P from the queue is user B or not. In operation 2912, if theperson P is not user B then it may be determined whether the depth ofthe geographical location is less than maximum degrees of separation.

If it is determined that depth is more than maximum allowable degrees ofseparation then it may repeat the operation 2908. In operation 2914, itmay be determined that the depth of the geographical location (e.g., thegeographical location 1704 of FIG. 12A) is less than maximum degrees ofseparation then the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) listfor person P may be processed. In operation 2916, it may be determinedwhether all the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-N of FIG. 6) have beenprocessed or not. If all the friends are processed it may be determinedthe queue is empty.

In operation 2918, if all the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG.6) for person P are not processed then next neighbor N may be taken fromthe list. In operation 2920, it may be determined whether the neighbor(e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) N has encountered before or not. Inoperation 2922, if the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) hasnot been encountered before then the neighbor may be added to the queue.In operation 2924, if the neighbor N has been encountered before it maybe further determined whether the geographical location (e.g., thegeographical location 1704 of FIG. 17A) from where the neighbor (e.g.,the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) has encountered previously is the same placeor closer to that place.

If it is determined that the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6)has encountered at the same or closer place then the friend may be addedto the queue. If it may be determined that friend is not encountered atthe same place or closer to that place then it may be again checked thatall the friends have processed. In operation 2926, if it is determinedthat the person P is user B than the connection may be added to theconnection list and after adding the connection to connection list itfollows the operation 2912. In operation 2928, if it may be determinedthat queue is empty then the operation may return the connections list.

For example, a first user ID with the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21) and a second user ID may be applied to thedifferent registered user. The verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21) with the different registered user may beconnected with each other through at least one of a geo-positioning dataassociated with the first user ID and the second user ID. In addition, amaximum degree of separation (Nmax) of at least two that is allowed forconnecting any two registered users, (e.g., the two registered users whomay be directly connected may be deemed to be separated by one degree ofseparation and two registered users who may be connected through no lessthan one other registered user may be deemed to be separated by twodegrees of separation and two registered users who may be connectedthrough not less than N other registered users may be deemed to beseparated by N+1 degrees of separation).

Furthermore, the user ID of the different registered user may besearched (e.g., the method limits the searching of the differentregistered user in the sets of user IDs that may be stored as registeredusers who are less than Nmax degrees of separation away from theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21), such that theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and thedifferent registered user who may be separated by more than Nmax degreesof separation are not found and connected.) in a set of user IDs thatmay be stored of registered users who are less than Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21), and not in the sets of user IDs that may be stored forregistered users who are greater than or equal to Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21), until the user ID of the different registered user may befound in one of the searched sets. Also, the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may be connected to the differentregistered user if the user ID of the different registered user may befound in one of the searched sets.

Moreover, the sets of user IDs that may be stored of registered usersmay be searched initially who are directly connected to the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21). A profile of thedifferent registered user may be communicated to the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) to display through a markerassociating the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21)with the different registered user. A connection path between theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and thedifferent registered user, the connection path indicating at least oneother registered user may be stored through whom the connection pathbetween the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) andthe different registered user is made.

In addition, the connection path between the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and the different registered user maybe communicated to the verified registered user to display. A hyperlinkin the connection path of each of the at least one registered users maybe embedded through whom the connection path between the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and the differentregistered user is made.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart of communicating brief profiles of the registeredusers, processing a hyperlink selection from the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and calculating and ensuringthe Nmax degree of separation of the registered users away from verifiedregistered users (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21), according to oneembodiment. In operation 3002, the data of the registered users may becollected from the database. In operation 3004, the relational pathbetween the first user and the second user may be calculated (e.g., theNmax degree of separation between verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21) and the registered user).

For example, the brief profiles of registered users, including a briefprofile of the different registered user, to the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) for display, each of the briefprofiles including a hyperlink to a corresponding full profile may becommunicated.

Furthermore, the hyperlink selection from the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may be processed (e.g., upon processingthe hyperlink selection of the full profile of the different registereduser, the full profile of the different registered user may becommunicated to the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) for display). In addition, the brief profiles of thoseregistered users may be ensured who are more than Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) are not communicated to the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21) for display.

FIG. 31 is an N degree separation view, according to one embodiment. MEmay be a verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the global neighborhoodenvironment 600 of FIG. 6) centered in the neighborhood network. A, B,C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, and/or U may bethe other registered user of the neighborhood network. The member of theneighborhood network may be separated from the centered verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) ME of the neighborhoodnetwork by certain degree of separation. The registered user A, B and Cmay be directly connected and may be deemed to be separated by onedegree of separation from verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) ME. The registered user D, E, F, G, and H may be connectedthrough no less than one other registered user may be deemed to beseparated by two degree of separation from verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) ME. The registered user I, J, K, and Lmay be connected through no less than N−1 other registered user and maybe deemed to be separated by N degree of separation from verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) ME. The registered user M,N, O, P, Q, R S, T and U may be all registered user.

FIG. 32 is a user interface view showing a map, according to oneembodiment. Particularly FIG. 32 illustrates a satellite photo of aphysical world. The registered user of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the global neighborhood environment 600 of FIG. 6)may use this for exploring the geographical location (e.g., thegeographical location 1704 of FIG. 17A) of the neighbors (e.g., theneighbor 620 of FIG. 6). The registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) may navigate, zoom, explore and quickly find particular desiredgeographical locations of the desired neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620of FIG. 6). This may help the registered user to read the map an/or plotthe route of the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) on theworld map.

FIG. 33A is a process flow of searching map based community andneighborhood contribution, according to one embodiment. In operation3302, a verified registered user (e.g., a verified registered user 1810of FIG. 18A-18B, a verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may beassociated with a user profile (e.g., a user profile 1700 of FIG. 17A).In operation 3304, the user profile (e.g., the user profile 1700 of FIG.17A) may be associated with a specific geographic location (e.g., ageographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A).

In operation 3306, a map (e.g., a map 1702 of FIG. 17A-17B, a map 1900of FIG. 19, a map 2100 of FIG. 21, a map 2201 of FIG. 22) may begenerated concurrently displaying the user profile (e.g., the userprofile 1700 of FIG. 17A) and the specific geographic location (e.g.,the geographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A). In operation, 3308, in themap, wiki profiles (e.g., a wiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-B, a wikiprofile 1802 of FIG. 18A, a wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22) associatedwith different geographic locations may be simultaneously generatedsurrounding the specific geographic location (e.g., the geographiclocation 1704 of FIG. 17A) associated with the user profile (e.g., theuser profile 1700 of FIG. 17A).

In operation 3310, a query of at least one of the user profile (e.g.,the user profile 1700 of FIG. 17A) and the specific geographic location(e.g., the geographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A) may be processed. Inoperation 3312, a particular wiki profile of the wiki profiles (e.g.,the wiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A,the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22) may be converted to another userprofile (e.g., the user profile 1700 of FIG. 17A) when a differentregistered user claims a particular geographic location to the specificgeographic location (e.g., the geographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A)associated with the particular wiki profile (e.g., the wiki profile 1706of FIG. 17A-B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204of FIG. 22), wherein the user profile (e.g., the user profile 1700 ofFIG. 17A) may be tied to a specific property in a neighborhood (e.g., aneighborhood 602A-602N of FIG. 6), and wherein the particular wikiprofile (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 of FIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 of FIG. 22) may be associatedwith a neighboring property to the specific property in the neighborhood(e.g., the neighborhood 620A-620N of FIG. 6).

In operation 3314, a certain wiki profile (e.g., the wiki profile 1706of FIG. 17A-17B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile2204 of FIG. 22) of the wiki profiles (e.g., the wiki profile 1706 ofFIG. 17A-B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204 ofFIG. 22) may be delisted when a private registered user claims a certaingeographic location (e.g., the geographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A)adjacent to at least one of the specific geographic location and theparticular geographic location (e.g., the geographic location 1704 ofFIG. 17A).

In operation 3316, the certain wiki profile (e.g., the wiki profile 1706of FIGS. 17A-B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wiki profile 2204of FIG. 22) in the map (e.g., the map 1702 of FIG. 17A-B, the map 1900of FIG. 19, the map 2100 of FIG. 21, the map 2201 of FIG. 22) when thecertain wiki profile may be delisted and/or be masked through therequest of the private registered user.

FIG. 33B is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33A showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 3318, atag data associated with at least one of the specific geographiclocation, the particular geographic location (e.g., the geographiclocation 1704 of FIG. 17A), and the delisted geographic location may beprocessed. In operation 3320, a frequent one of the tag data may bedisplayed when at least one of the specific geographic location and theparticular geographic location (e.g., the geographic location 1704 ofFIG. 17A) may be made active, but not when the geographic location(e.g., the geographic location 1704 of FIG. 17A) may be delisted.

In operation 3322, a commercial user (e.g., a commercial user 1800 ofFIG. 18A-B) may be permitted to purchase a customizable business profile(e.g., a customizable business profile 1804 of FIG. 18B) associated witha commercial geographic location. In operation 3324, the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) to communicate a messageto the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 602A-602N of FIG. 6) may beenabled based on a selectable distance range away from the specificgeographic location.

In operation 3326, a payment of the commercial user (e.g., thecommercial user 1800 of FIG. 18A-B) and the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may be processed. In operation 3328,the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may bepermitted to edit any information in the wiki profiles (e.g., the wikiprofile 1706 of FIG. 17A-B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wikiprofile 2204 of FIG. 22) including the particular wiki profile and thecertain wiki profile until the certain wiki profile may be claimed by atleast one of the different registered user and the private registereduser.

In operation 3330, a claimant of any wiki profile (e.g., the wikiprofile 1706 of FIG. 17A-B, the wiki profile 1802 of FIG. 18A, the wikiprofile 2204 of FIG. 22) may be enabled to control what information isdisplayed on their user profile (e.g., the user profile 1700 of FIG.17A). In operation 3332, the claimant to segregate certain informationon their user profile (e.g., the user profile 1700 of FIG. 17A) may beallowed such that only other registered users directly connected to theclaimant are able to view data on their user profile (e.g., the userprofile 1700 of FIG. 17A).

FIG. 33C is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33B showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 3334, afirst user ID with the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) and a second user ID to the different registered user may beapplied. In operation 3336, the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21) with the different registered user with each othermay be connected through at least one of associated with the first userID and the second user ID.

In operation 3338, a maximum degree of separation (Nmax) of at least twomay be set that is allowed for connecting any two registered users,wherein two registered users who are directly connected may be deemed tobe separated by one degree of separation and two registered users whoare connected through no less than one other registered user may bedeemed to be separated by two degrees of separation and two registeredusers who may be connected through no less than N other registered usersare deemed to be separated by N+1 degrees of separation. In operation3340, the user ID of the different registered user may be searched in aset of user IDs that are stored of registered users who are less thanNmax degrees of separation away from the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21), and not in the sets of user IDs that are storedfor registered users who may be greater than or equal to Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21), until the user ID of the different registered user may befound in one of the searched sets.

In operation 3342, the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) may be connected to the different registered user if the userID of the different registered user may be found in one of the searchedsets, wherein the method limits the searching of the differentregistered user in the sets of user IDs that may be stored of registeredusers who may be less than Nmax degrees of separation away from theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21), such that theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and thedifferent registered user who may be separated by more than Nmax degreesof separation are not found and connected. In operation 3344, initiallyin the sets of user IDs that are stored of registered users who may bedirectly connected to the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) may be initially searched.

FIG. 33D is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33C showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 3346, aprofile of the different registered user to the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 21) to display may be communicated througha marker associating the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) with the different registered user.

In operation 3348, a connection path between the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and the different registereduser, the connection path indicating at least one other registered usermay be stored through whom the connection path between the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B,the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and the differentregistered user may be made.

In operation 3350, the connection path between the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) and the different registereduser to the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may becommunicated to display.

In operation 3352, a hyperlink in the connection path of each of the atleast one registered users may be embedded through whom the connectionpath between the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21)and the different registered user may be made. In operation 3354, eachregistered user associated e-mail addresses of individuals who are notregistered users may be stored and identified by each registered user asneighbors (e.g., a neighbor 620 of FIG. 6).

In operation 3356, an invitation may be communicated to become a newuser (e.g., a user 616 of FIG. 6) to neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 620of FIG. 6) of the particular user. In operation 3358, an acceptance ofthe neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) to whom the invitationwas sent may be processed. In operation 3360, the neighbor (e.g., theneighbor 620 of FIG. 6) to a database and storing of the neighbor (e.g.,the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6), a user ID and the set of user IDs ofregistered users may be added who are directly connected to the neighbor(e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6), the set of user IDs stored of theneighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) including at least the userID of the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21).

FIG. 33E is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 33D showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 3362,the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) that theinvitation to the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 of FIG. 6) has beenaccepted may be notified when the acceptance is processed.

In operation 3364, inputs from the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 620 ofFIG. 6) having descriptive data about the friend and storing the inputsin the database may be processed. In operation 3366, brief profiles ofregistered users, including a brief profile of the different registereduser may be communicated, to the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registereduser 1810 of FIG. 21) for display, each of the brief profiles includingthe hyperlink to a corresponding full profile.

In operation 3368, the hyperlink selection from the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may be processed, wherein,upon processing the hyperlink selection of the full profile of thedifferent registered user, the full profile of the different registereduser is communicated to the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 21) for display.

In operation 3370, brief profiles of those registered users who may bemore than Nmax degrees of separation away from the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 18A-B, theverified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may not communicated to theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1810 ofFIG. 18A-B, the verified registered user 1810 of FIG. 21) may be ensuredfor display.

FIG. 34A is a process flow of associating a user with a real property ina geo-spatial environment and marking a status of the real propertyclaimed by the user, according to one embodiment. In operation 3402, theuser (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may be associated with the realproperty in the geo-spatial environment when the user claims the realproperty. In operation 3404, a profile of the user and the real propertymay be concurrently displayed in the geo-spatial environment in a map(e.g., an aerial map view illustrated in FIG. 2). In operation 3406,wiki profiles associated with different real properties (e.g., generatedthrough a wiki module 110 of FIG. 1) surrounding the real propertyclaimed by the user may be simultaneously generated in the map.

In operation 3408, the status of the real property claimed by the userin the geo-spatial environment as being available may be marked throughan indicator expressing an availability status of the real property(e.g., the status may be modified by the for-sale-by owner module 112,the retained agent module 134, the rent module 114 of FIG. 1). Inoperation 3410, the availability status may be modified to afor-sale-by-owner status (e.g., through the for-sale-by owner module 112of FIG. 1). In operation 3412, a meta-data may be applied to the realproperty indicating at least one of a price, a duration, a physicalcharacteristic, and a condition of the real property.

FIG. 34B is a continuation of the process flow of FIG. 34A showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 3414, aset of providers having an availability to deliver and install a lawnsign to a physical location of the real property may be determinedgeo-spatially based on a confirmation request of the user. In operation3416, a marketing flyer (e.g., the lawn sign) having details of the realproperty may be automatically generated in a print and web form. Inoperation 3418, the availability status may be transformed to a retainedagent status (e.g., the retained agent module 134 of FIG. 1) based on arequest of the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1)

In operation 3420, an agency profile of the retained agent may begeo-spatially applied to the real property such that the agency profileappears concurrently with the real property and is surrounded by wikiprofiles in the map. In operation 3422, the real property may besyndicated (e.g., through the syndication module 140 of FIG. 1) across arealtor multiple listing service database (e.g., the multiple listingmodule 142 of FIG. 1) upon request of the user. In operation 3424, theavailability status may be modified to a for rent status (e.g., modifiedusing the rent module 114 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 34C is a continuation of the process flow of FIG. 34B showingadditional processes. In operation 3426, a meta-data indicating at leastone of a price, a term, a duration, a physical characteristic, and acondition of the real property may be applied to the real property. Inoperation 3428, a prospective resident (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) ofthe real property in a particular window of time in the geo-spatialenvironment may be booked when the user selects a social networkingprofile of another user who has requested the real property as a rental(e.g., through rent module 114 of FIG. 1). In operation 3430, a paymentof another user may be processed when the another user confirms abooking of the real property on a particular day.

In operation 3432, prospective buyers who wish to acquire at least oneof a tenancy and an ownership interest in the real property may bepre-qualified (e.g., through bidding module 138 of FIG. 1). In operation3434, the prospective buyers may be enabled to bid on at least one ofthe tenancy interest and the ownership interest in the real property. Inoperation 3436, an optimal one of the prospective buyers may be invitedto transact the real property with the user.

FIG. 34D is a continuation of the process flow of FIG. 34C showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 3438, amouse over of the user, resident and business profiles associated withthe different real properties surrounding the real property may bepreviewed having both positive and negative wiki-compiled data (e.g.,the neighbor user generated content 302 of FIG. 3). In operation 3440, anew latitude and longitude location may be automatically set based on arelocation of a pushpin indicator of the real property (e.g., throughpushpin module 132 of FIG. 1) when the user relocates a pointer in thegeo-spatial environment indicating a physical location of the realproperty. In operation 3442, a representation of properties listed in amultiple listing service (e.g., the multiple listing module 142 ofFIG. 1) may be concurrently generated directly in the geo-spatialenvironment along with wiki pages and the real property claimed by theuser.

In operation 3444, an escrow process may be conducted (e.g., using theescrow module 144 of FIG. 1) directly in the geo-spatial environmentincluding any verifications and audit reporting associated with the realproperty transaction including at least one of a home inspectionreporting, a termite inspection reporting, a flood inspection reporting,a title report auditing, and a disclosure check-off procedure. Inoperation 3446, a community of real estate transaction, verification,and inspection parties may be built to facilitate the escrow process,and providing a recommendation (e.g., the recommendation module 146 ofFIG. 1) to a chosen few of the real estate transaction, verification,and inspection parties to neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1)of the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) through a recommendationinterface in the geo-spatial environment.

For example, a For-sale-by owner (e.g., FSBO 212 of FIG. 2) may be aterm that may describe a piece of real property that may have beenoffered for sale directly by its owner. The owner of the real propertymay not have solicited the help of a real estate broker, implying thatno real estate commission may be associated with the sale of the realproperty. In recent years, the term may have been used more broadly todescribe the process of marketing, buying, and selling of real propertywithout the representation of a real estate broker.

Many sellers who may prefer to sell the real property through FSBO(For-Sale-By Owner) may avoid paying commission to the broker (e.g.,Commissions may range from 5% to 7%).

Many listing services (e.g., Multiple Listing Service (MLS) (e.g., themultiple listing module 142 of FIG. 1)) may allow real estate brokersrepresenting sellers of the real property under a listing contract towidely share information about properties associated with real estatebrokers who may represent potential buyers (e.g., potential interestedparties) and/or may wish to cooperate with a seller's broker in findingthe prospective buyer for the real property. The many listing servicesmay combine the listings of all available real properties in ageo-spatial environment that may be represented by brokers who may bemembers of many database sevices.

The listing services may enable the efficient distribution ofinformation (e.g., the contact information, commission of the agent,etc) that may facilitate the potential buyer of the real property tosearch the listing service database (e.g., the multiple listing module142 of FIG. 1) and/or retrieve information about the real property forsale for various parameters (e.g., the physical location, the pricerange, etc),

The listing services (e.g., the multiple listing module 142 of FIG. 1)may be governed by private entities, and/or rules set by enforcingbodies (e.g., a county, a real property agencies, etc.) beyond anyindividual state rules regarding real estate. The listing services mayset their own rules for membership, access, and/or sharing ofinformation, and may be subject to nationwide rules laid down by theentities associated with real property transactions with no state and/orfederal oversight (e.g., a real estate company, the county, etc.). Thelisting services may be owned and/or operated by the real estatecompany, the county and/or a regional real estate Board. Membership ofthe listing services may be generally considered to be essential to thepractice of real estate brokerage.

A person (e.g., the user 116 of the global neighborhood environment 100of FIG. 1) selling his/her own home may act as a For-sale-by owner maynot put a listing for the home directly into the listing database (e.g.,the multiple listing module 142 of FIG. 1). Similarly, a properlylicensed broker who may not prefer to join the trade association and/oroperate a business within the association's rules, may not join thelisting services.

A Bed and Breakfast may be a type of boarding house typically operatingout of a large single family residence (e.g., the residence 118 of FIG.1). Guests may be accommodated at night in private bedrooms andbreakfast may be served in the morning—in any one of the bedroom, adining room, the host's kitchen.

Bathrooms may be private, shared (e.g. sharing with other guests,sharing with the family in smaller establishments) and/or en-suite (e.g.where the ablutions are directly accessed from the guest's bedroom). TheBed and Breakfast may be operated either as a primary occupation or as asecondary source of income. Staff may often consist of the house'sowners and/or members of their family who may live there.

Guests may usually be expected to pay for their stay upon arrival and/orleave before noon or earlier on the day of departure. A big advantage ofthis type of hosted accommodation may be the local knowledge of thehost(s).

Guests may stay more than one night, in some smaller Bed and Breakfaststhey may be expected to be away from the Bed and Breakfast during themain part of the day. This arrangement, however, may not be inconvenientsince many popular Bed and Breakfasts may be located in beach andmountain areas, (e.g., Hawaii, New England, Colorado) where daytimerecreation and/or tourism activities may be popular. One advantage ofstaying at a Bed and Breakfast may be readier access to popularlocations “off the beaten path” which may not be convenient to the citycenter.

Most Bed and Breakfasts may be small, rarely with room (e.g., the roommay have the capacity to accommodate 2-12 guests). It may be advisablefor anyone wanting to stay at a bed and breakfast to make reservationswell in advance of their travel date. Consultation with a qualifiedtravel agent knowledgeable in this type of accommodation may be helpful.However, many Bed and Breakfasts may belong to associations and/or mayhave an electronic interface (e.g., may have website of their own).Prices and tariffs may be described in various books and/or travelguides that may often be obsolete by the time they are published.

The Bed and Breakfast arrangement may actually be very old one. Beforethe modern times, it might have been quite normal for country travelersto spend the night at a private house rather than an inn, and the custommay have persisted in many parts of the world. However, prior to the19th century, this might have been strictly an informal arrangementconstrained by acquaintance and social rank (e.g., a doctor might staywith a doctor or pharmacist, while a nobleman would only stay with thelocal gentry). The abbreviation of ‘B&B’ on roadside signs first becamepopular in the British Isles.

Breakfast may usually be cooked on demand for the guest and may usuallyfeature bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans. Butincreasingly, because of either a desire of owners to economize orguests to minimize their calorie intake, a ‘continental breakfast’ mighthave become more common. Hotel prices may often be outrageous, Bed andBreakfast's may be a budget option and this tradition may continue inmany parts of the world.

However, Bed and Breakfasts in many countries may often be consciouslyseek to recall earlier days. They may frequently be established inattractive older houses that may have been renovated and/or filled withantique furniture. In some cases, an existing inn may re-label itself asa Bed and Breakfast to improve business and/or move itself ‘up-market’.Also in some countries, the Bed and Breakfasts may serve a traditionalbreakfast as a point of pride. Furthermore, a form of Bed and Breakfastcalled casa particular (e.g. “private home”) became the main form ofaccommodation outside the tourist resorts. As they may often be run byamateurs, with little lodge management experience, strict laws mightgovern the operation of Bed and Breakfasts. However, regulations mayvary in each jurisdiction in content, extent and in enforcement.

The most common regulations Bed and Breakfasts may have to followpertain to safety. They may be required to have fire resistance, asufficient fire escape plan in place, and smoke detectors in each guestroom. Kitchens and equipment used to serve meals may also be monitoredfor sanitation. Most Bed and Breakfasts may generally be compliant withtheir jurisdiction's laws. However, guests may mostly be unfamiliar withthese guidelines and/or may tend to overlook any violations.

While various local governments may have regulations, membership in astate/provincial/national bed and breakfast association may oftenindicate a higher standard of hospitality. Associations may often reviewtheir members and may tend to have additional standards of care. Whilethe associations may also facilitate marketing of the individual bed andbreakfasts. They may also provide a stamp of approval that the businessin question is reputable.

Guest house (e.g., the guest house property 204 of FIG. 2) may be aprivate home which might have been converted for the exclusive use ofguest accommodation in the geo-spatial environment. The owner mayusually live in an entirely separate area within the property and theguest house may serve as a form of lodging business, similar to a bedand breakfast. The neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N ofFIG. 1) may be a geographically localised community located within alarger city, town or suburb. The residents of a given neighborhood(e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may be called (e.g., the neighbors 120 ofthe neighborhood 102A-N illustrated in FIG. 1)

Traditionally, a neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1)may be small enough that the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of theneighborhood 102 illustrated in FIG. 1) may be able to know each other.However in practice, neighbors may not know one another very well atall. Villages may not be divided into neighborhoods, because they mayalready be small enough that all the villager may know each other.

A leasehold estate may be an ownership interest in land in which any oneof a lessee and the tenant may hold real property by some form of titlefrom the landlord. A fixed-term tenancy may last for some fixed periodof time. Despite the name tenancy for years, such a tenancy may last forany period of time even a tenancy for one week may be called a tenancyfor years. The duration may need not be certain, but may be conditionedupon the happening of some event, (e.g. until the crops are ready forharvest, until the war is over), such that the lease may expireautomatically upon the running of the specified time, and/or theoccurrence of the specified event. A lease may be purported to be atenancy for years of more than one year, and it may not be put inwriting, then it may automatically become a periodic tenancy, with arental period equal to the period between lease payments, but of no morethan a year.

Although the present embodiments have been described with reference tospecific example embodiments, it will be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments.For example, the various devices, modules, analyzers, generators, etc.described herein may be enabled and operated using hardware circuitry(e.g., CMOS based logic circuitry), firmware, software and/or anycombination of hardware, firmware, and/or software (e.g., embodied in amachine readable medium). For example, the various electrical structureand methods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, andelectrical circuits (e.g., application specific integrated ASICcircuitry and/or in Digital Signal; Processor DSP circuitry).

For example, the lodging module 106, the search module 108, the wikimodule 110, the for-sale-by owner module 112, the rent module 114, thedelivery module 130, the pushpin module 132, the retained agent module134, the paying guest module 136, the bidding module 138, thesyndication module 140, the multiple listing module 142, the escrowmodule 144, the recommendation module 146, the social community module606, the search module 608, the wiki module 610, the commerce module612, the map module 614, the building builder module 700, the N^(th)degree module 702, the tagging module 704, the verify module 706, thegroups generator module 708, the pushpin module 710, the profile module712, the announce module 714, the friend finder module 722, theneighbor-neighbor help module 724, the business search module 802, thecommunicate module 806, the directory assistance module 808, theembedding module 810, the no-match module 812, the range selector module814, the user-place wiki module 900, the user-user wiki module 902, theuser-neighbor wiki module 904, the user-business wiki module 906, thereviews module 908, the defamation prevention module 910, the wikisocial network conversion module 912, the claim module 914, the datasegment module 916, the dispute resolution module 918, the residentannounce payment module 1000, the business display advertisement module1002, the geo-position advertisement ranking module 1004, the contentsyndication module 1006, the text advertisement module 1008, thecommunity market place module 1010, the click-in tracking module 1012,the satellite data module 1100, the cartoon map converter module 1104,the profile pointer module 1106, the parcel module 1108 and the occupantmodule 1110 of FIGS. 1-34 may be embodied through the lodging circuit,the for-sale-by owner circuit, the rent circuit, the delivery circuit,the pushpin circuit, the retained agent circuit, the paying guestcircuit, the bidding circuit, the syndication circuit, multiple listingcircuit, escrow circuit, recommendation circuit, the social communitycircuit, the search circuit, the wiki circuit, the commerce circuit, themap circuit, the building builder circuit, the N^(th) degree circuit,the tagging circuit, the verify circuit, the groups circuit, the pushpincircuit, the profile circuit, the announce circuit, the friends findercircuit, the neighbor-neighbor help circuit, the business searchcircuit, the communicate circuit, the embedding circuit, the no-matchcircuit, the range selector circuit, the user-place wiki circuit, theuser-user wiki circuit, the user-neighbor wiki circuit, theuser-business circuit, the reviews circuit, the defamation preventioncircuit, the wiki social network conversion circuit, the claim circuit,the data segment circuit, the dispute resolution circuit, the residentannounce payment circuit, the business display advertisement circuit,the geo-position advertisement ranking circuit, the content syndicationcircuit, the text advertisement circuit, the community market placecircuit, the click-in tracking circuit, the satellite data circuit, thecartoon map converter circuit, the profile pointer circuit, the parcelcircuit, the occupant circuit using one or more of the technologiesdescribed herein.

In addition, it will be appreciated that the various operations,processes, and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in amachine-readable medium and/or a machine accessible medium compatiblewith a data processing system (e.g., a computer system), and may beperformed in any order. Accordingly, the specification and drawings areto be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system of a global neighborhood environmentcomprising: a computer server of the global neighborhood environment:the computer server including one or more computers havingnon-transitory instructions stored thereon that when executed cause theone or more computers: to verify that a user lives at a residenceassociated with a geographic location claimed by the user of the globalneighborhood environment using a processor and a memory, to create asocial network page of the user once verified, to enable the user toconstrain a communication to neighboring users within a geospatialvicinity of the residence of the user based on a neighborhood boundary,to distribute a message in a distance away from the residence of theuser based on the neighborhood boundary, to provide an additionalprivilege as a lead user in the online community of the globalneighborhood environment based on at least one of a participation levelof the user in the online community and an activity level of the userassociated with encouraging neighbors to participate in the onlinecommunity, and to automatically determine a set of access privileges inthe online community associated with each user of the online communityby constraining access in private web sites of the online community toneighboring users based on each residence associated with eachgeographic location claimed by each user of the global neighborhoodenvironment, wherein the one or more computers to permit the user to seta privacy setting associated with a profile data of the user such that acertain information is marked as private and is therefore masked frombeing visible to neighboring users of the online community in the globalneighborhood environment, and wherein the global neighborhoodenvironment formed through the computer server has a domain name ofnextdoor having a generic top-level suffix of com.
 2. The system of theglobal neighborhood environment of claim 1: wherein the computer serverto permit the user to provide at least one of a recommendation and anevent suggestion to neighboring users based on the residence associatedwith the geographic location claimed by the user of the globalneighborhood environment.
 3. The system of the global neighborhoodenvironment of claim 1: wherein the computer server to permit the userof the global neighborhood environment to mark certain informationcommunicated directly to a particular neighboring user as private, suchthat privately shared information is shared only with the particularneighboring user and is designated as non-public to other neighboringusers of the online community.
 4. The system of the global neighborhoodenvironment of claim 1: wherein the computer server to filterinformation to only display messages from a particular neighborhoodassociated with each verified user, and wherein the computer server topermit private posts only in the particular neighborhood to verifiedusers having verified addresses within the neighborhood.
 5. The systemof the global neighborhood environment of claim 1: wherein the computerserver utilizes a postcard method through which the computer servergenerates a physical postcard that is postal mailed to users in aparticular neighborhood of the social network.
 6. The system of theglobal neighborhood environment of claim 1 wherein the globalneighborhood environment is designed to create private websites tofacilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods.
 7. A computer server including one or more processorshaving non-transitory instructions stored thereon that when executedcause the computer server: to verify that a user lives at a residenceassociated with a geographic location claimed by the user of an onlineneighborhood social network using a processor and a memory, to create asocial network page of the user once verified in the online neighborhoodsocial network, to enable the user to constrain communications toneighboring users in a geospatial vicinity of the residence of the userbased on a neighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood socialnetwork, to automatically determine a set of access privileges in theonline neighborhood social network associated with the neighborhoodboundary of the online neighborhood social network by constrainingaccess in a private website in the online neighborhood social network tothe user and to neighboring users of the user based on each residenceassociated with each geographic location claimed by each user of theonline neighborhood social network verified to live within theneighborhood boundary, wherein the user is provided an additionalprivilege as a lead user in the online neighborhood social network basedon at least one of a participation level of the user in the onlineneighborhood social network and an activity level of the user associatedwith encouraging neighbors to participate in the online neighborhoodsocial network, and wherein the computer server to permit the user toset a privacy setting associated with a profile data such that a certaininformation is marked as private in the online neighborhood socialnetwork and is therefore masked from being visible to neighboring usersof the online neighborhood social network.
 8. The computer server ofclaim 7 wherein the online neighborhood social network has a domain nameof nextdoor.
 9. The computer server of claim 7: wherein the computerserver to permit the user to provide a recommendation to neighboringusers based on the residence associated with the geographic locationclaimed by the user of the online neighborhood social network.
 10. Thecomputer server of claim 7: wherein the computer server to permit theuser of the online neighborhood social network to mark certaininformation communicated directly to a particular neighboring user asprivate, such that privately shared information is shared only with theparticular neighboring user and is designated as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network.
 11. Thecomputer server of claim 7: wherein the computer server to filterinformation to only display messages from a particular neighborhoodassociated with each verified user, and wherein the computer server topermit private posts only in the particular neighborhood to verifiedusers having verified addresses within a particular neighborhoodboundary associated with the particular neighborhood.
 12. The computerserver of claim 7: wherein the computer server utilizes a postcardmethod through which the computer server generates a physical postcardthat is postal mailed to neighboring users living within theneighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood social network.
 13. Thecomputer server of claim 7: wherein the online neighborhood socialnetwork is designed to create private websites to facilitatecommunication among neighbors and build stronger neighborhoods.
 14. Amethod comprising: verifying that a user lives at a residence associatedwith a residential address claimed by the user of an online neighborhoodsocial network using a processor and a memory; creating a social networkpage of the user once verified in the online neighborhood socialnetwork; distributing, via the processor and the memory, a message fromthe user to neighboring users that are verified to live within aneighborhood boundary of the residence; designating, via the processorand the memory, the user as a lead user having an additional privilegein a private website of the online neighborhood social network confinedby the neighborhood boundary based on at least one of a participationlevel of the user in the online neighborhood social network and anactivity level of the user associated with encouraging neighboring usersto participate in the online neighborhood social network; automaticallydetermining, via the processor and the memory, a set of accessprivileges in the private website of the online neighborhood socialnetwork associated with the user; and restricting access, via theprocessor and the memory, to a particular neighborhood in the privatewebsite of the online neighborhood social network to the user and toneighboring users living within the neighborhood boundary of theresidence, wherein the neighboring users are determined based on eachresidence associated with each geographic location claimed by eachneighboring user of the online neighborhood social network that iswithin the neighborhood boundary, permitting the user to set a privacysetting associated with a profile data such that a certain informationis marked as private in the online neighborhood social network, via theprocessor and the memory, and is therefore masked from being visible toneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network, and whereinthe online neighborhood social network has a domain name of nextdoorhaving a generic top-top level suffix of com.
 15. The method of claim 14further comprising at least one of: distributing a recommendation of theuser to neighboring users based on the residence associated with thegeographic location claimed by the user of the online neighborhoodsocial network; and publishing an event listing posted by the user toneighboring users based on the residence associated with the geographiclocation claimed by the user of the online neighborhood social network.16. The method of claim 14: permitting the user of the onlineneighborhood social network to mark certain information communicated toa particular neighboring user as private; and designating the certaininformation shared only with the particular neighboring user asnon-public to other neighboring users of the online neighborhood socialnetwork.
 17. The method of claim 14: filtering information to onlydisplay messages from a particular neighborhood associated with eachverified user; and permitting private posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within theneighborhood boundary.
 18. The method of claim 14: utilizing a postcardmethod through which the computer server generates a physical postcardthat is postal mailed to neighboring users living within theneighborhood boundary of the online neighborhood social network.
 19. Themethod of claim 14: wherein the online neighborhood social network isdesigned to create private websites to facilitate communication amongneighbors and build safer neighborhoods.
 20. A system of a globalneighborhood environment comprising: a computer server of the globalneighborhood environment: the computer server including one or morecomputers having non-transitory instructions stored thereon that whenexecuted cause the one or more computers: to verify that a user lives ata residence associated with a geographic location claimed by the user ofthe global neighborhood environment using a processor and a memory, tocreate a social network page of the user once verified, to enable theuser to constrain a communication to neighboring users within ageospatial vicinity of the residence of the user, to provide anadditional privilege as a lead user in the online community of theglobal neighborhood environment based on at least one of a participationlevel of the user in the online community and an activity level of theuser associated with encouraging neighbors to participate in the onlinecommunity, and to automatically determine a set of access privileges inthe online community associated with each user of the online communityby constraining access in private web sites of the online community toneighboring users based on each residence associated with eachgeographic location claimed by each user of the global neighborhoodenvironment, wherein the one or more computers to permit the user of theglobal neighborhood environment to mark certain information communicateddirectly to a particular neighboring user as private, such thatprivately shared information is shared only with the particularneighboring user and is designated as non-public to other neighboringusers of the online community.
 21. The system of the global neighborhoodenvironment of claim 20: wherein the computer server to permit the userto set a privacy setting associated with a profile data of the user suchthat a certain information is marked as private and is therefore maskedfrom being visible to neighboring users of the online community in theglobal neighborhood environment.
 22. The system of the globalneighborhood environment of claim 20: wherein the computer server topermit the user to provide at least one of a recommendation and an eventsuggestion to neighboring users based on the residence associated withthe geographic location claimed by the user of the global neighborhoodenvironment.
 23. The system of the global neighborhood environment ofclaim 20: wherein the global neighborhood environment formed through thecomputer server is named nextdoor.
 24. The system of the globalneighborhood environment of claim 20: wherein the computer server tofilter information to only display messages from a particularneighborhood associated with each verified user, and wherein thecomputer server to permit private posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users having verified addresses within theneighborhood.
 25. The system of the global neighborhood environment ofclaim 20 wherein the computer server utilizes a postcard method throughwhich the computer server generates a physical postcard that is postalmailed to neighboring users in a particular neighborhood of the socialnetwork.
 26. The system of the global neighborhood environment of claim20 wherein the global neighborhood environment is designed to createprivate websites to facilitate communication among neighbors and buildsafer neighborhoods.
 27. A computer server comprising: a processor and amemory having non-transitory instructions stored thereon that whenexecuted cause the computer server: to verify that a user lives at aresidence associated with a geographic location claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network using the processor and thememory, to create a social network page of the user once verified in theonline neighborhood social network, to enable the user to constraincommunications to neighboring users in a geospatial vicinity of theresidence of the user based on a neighborhood boundary of the onlineneighborhood social network, wherein the user is provided an additionalprivilege as a lead user in the online neighborhood social network basedon at least one of a participation level of the user in the onlineneighborhood social network and an activity level of the user associatedwith encouraging neighbors to participate in the online neighborhoodsocial network, to automatically determine a set of access privileges inthe online neighborhood social network associated with the neighborhoodboundary of the online neighborhood social network by constrainingaccess in a private website in the online neighborhood social network tothe user and to neighboring users of the user based on each residenceassociated with each geographic location claimed by each user of theonline neighborhood social network verified to live within theneighborhood boundary, wherein the computer server to permit the user ofthe online neighborhood social network to mark certain informationcommunicated directly to a particular neighboring user as private, suchthat privately shared information is shared only with the particularneighboring user and is designated as non-public to other neighboringusers of the online neighborhood social network, and wherein the onlineneighborhood social network has a domain name of nextdoor.
 28. Thecomputer server of claim 27: wherein the computer server to permit theuser to set a privacy setting associated with a profile data such that acertain information is marked as private in the online neighborhoodsocial network and is therefore masked from being visible to neighboringusers of the online neighborhood social network.
 29. The computer serverof claim 27: wherein the computer server to permit the user to provide arecommendation to neighboring users based on the residence associatedwith the geographic location claimed by the user of the onlineneighborhood social network.
 30. The computer server of claim 27:wherein the computer server to filter information to only displaymessages from a particular neighborhood associated with each verifieduser, and wherein the computer server to permit private posts only inthe particular neighborhood to verified users having verified addresseswithin a particular neighborhood boundary associated with the particularneighborhood.
 31. The computer server of claim 27: wherein the computerserver utilizes a postcard method through which the computer servergenerates a physical postcard that is postal mailed to neighboring usersliving within the neighborhood boundary of the online neighborhoodsocial network.
 32. The computer server of claim 27: wherein the onlineneighborhood social network is designed to create private websites tofacilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods.
 33. A method comprising: verifying that a user lives at aresidence associated with a residential address claimed by the user ofan online neighborhood social network using a processor and a memory;creating a social network page of the user once verified in the onlineneighborhood social network; distributing, via the processor and thememory, a message from the user to neighboring users that are verifiedto live within a neighborhood boundary of the residence; designating,via the processor and the memory, the user as a lead user having anadditional privilege in a private website of the online neighborhoodsocial network confined by the neighborhood boundary based on at leastone of a participation level of the user in the online neighborhoodsocial network and an activity level of the user associated withencouraging neighboring users to participate in the online neighborhoodsocial network; automatically determining, via the processor and memory,a set of access privileges in the private website of the onlineneighborhood social network associated with the user; and restrictingaccess, via the processor and the memory, to a particular neighborhoodin the private website of the online neighborhood social network to theuser and to neighboring users living within the neighborhood boundary ofthe residence, permitting, via the processor and the memory, the user ofthe online neighborhood social network to mark certain informationcommunicated to a particular neighboring user as private; anddesignating, via the processor and the memory, the certain informationshared only with the particular neighboring user as non-public to otherneighboring users of the online neighborhood social network, wherein theneighboring users are determined based on each residence associated witheach geographic location claimed by each neighboring user of the onlineneighborhood social network that is within the neighborhood boundary.34. The method of claim 33 wherein: wherein the global neighborhoodenvironment formed through the computer server has a domain name ofnextdoor.
 35. The method of claim 33 further comprising at least one of:permitting the user to set a privacy setting associated with a profiledata such that a certain information is marked as private in the onlineneighborhood social network and is therefore masked from being visibleto neighboring users of the online neighborhood social network;distributing a recommendation of the user to neighboring users based onthe residence associated with the geographic location claimed by theuser of the online neighborhood social network; and publishing an eventlisting posted by the user to neighboring users based on the residenceassociated with the geographic location claimed by the user of theonline neighborhood social network.
 36. The method of claim 33:filtering information to only display messages from a particularneighborhood associated with each verified user; and permitting privateposts only in the particular neighborhood to verified users havingverified addresses within the neighborhood boundary.
 37. The method ofclaim 33: utilizing a postcard method through which the computer servergenerates a physical postcard that is postal mailed to neighboring usersliving within the neighborhood boundary of the online neighborhoodsocial network.
 38. The method of claim 33: wherein the onlineneighborhood social network is designed to create private websites tofacilitate communication among neighbors and build neighborhoods.